That is some Beautiful Work! Lamb is a true fav of mine but the rest of the family is not crazy about it. Can you give the general proportions of the spices in the mix? Or are they 1 to 1 of each. Thanks...JJ
BTW...I am interested in the Chicken as well. That is one they all will eat. If you have a recipe for the Harissa as well it would be appreciated....
OK Chef JJ harissa !
I follow the recipe from Claudia Roden's Middle Eastern Food. A real cooks cook book
that I bought 20 years ago. If it aint broke don't fix it
Start with 250g dried chilli ,soaked in hot water for about 45-60 min.,drain.I cut them up with scissors dry so I can shake the seeds out. Now I don't know what dried chilli you can get.Sometimes I go to the Indian store for them & sometimes the Thai store. Some chilli hotter than others I buy the bigger ones, Kashmiri but sometimes mix some small ones in.
Then its 1 med head of garlic,1 tab coriander seed,1 tab caraway 1 tab dried mint 3 tabs + fresh cilantro 1 tab rock salt Olive oil. Grind the spices,rock salt helps. Process the lot with enough EVO to get the consistency right. Jar it with some EVO on the top.
Now if its to hot ,roast a red bell pepper over gas flame,peel off blackened skin process that through original mix. Very rare but a trick worth knowing .Of course you can do this 50/50 with processed bell pepper at serving to give people a bail out position or even make a sauce off the harissa base.
I don't put cumin or black pepper in mine I have seen it in other versions. .If you are kicking off with bell pepper you are making a safe
version thats not going to upset people but I am all about authentic.
Zhug .This is a blast I use it to rub over mackerel for the grill,prawns,swordfish,chicken dishes, lamb you name it.
Grind & blend to a paste 1 x teas black pepper,1 teas caraway,3-4 cardamon pods,4 strong hot dried chilli soaked for an hour 1 head garlic ,a full big bunch of cilantro including roots,1 teas rock salt.
Its really worth the effort. I have made it added a splash of water cook it off for a couple of minutes. Picked that up somewhere not sure it adds much.
If you take 1 teas of zhug add 1 tab ground fenugreek then mix it with the pulp of a large tomato you then have a relish called hilbeh.Great with flat bread or as a condiment.
I was making 3 kg a week at one point with providers busting my balls for more.
