Harissa

This recipe for harissa, a Tunisian chile sauce, is seriously spicy. Okay, I’ll admit, my spice tolerance is not quite unbeatable, but it’s pretty high, certainly higher than most people I’ve met. I lap up the spiciest Indian and Thai curries like nobody’s business, toss chili peppers in everything, and liberally sprinkle my food with hot sauce. I’ve never once used gloves when chopping hot peppers. Jalapenos (barely spicy to my palate!), bird’s eye chiles, habaneros, I’ve practically rubbed them all over my hands with no ill effect (okay, the occasional burning eye, admittedly).

Well, that all changed when chopping up the rehydrated chiles for this particular recipe. Despite washing my hands after doing so, I was soon struck by an intense and slowly worsening burning on the sensitive skin between my fingers – repeated washings, lime juice, and painkillers provided only momentary relief. In the end, I was left to wait for that solver of most problems – time. By the next day, my hands were (mostly) back to normal. But consider yourself warned. The resulting spice paste, however, is amazing. Perfect in small doses as a meat rub, on sandwiches, stirred into soups, or even added to salads. For those less spice inclined, cut back on (or omit) the arbol chiles, and use more guajillos and anchos instead. And I’ll certainly be wearing gloves the next time I make this.

Harissa (adapted from All Recipes)
Yield: approximately 1/2 cup

Ingredients:

• 15 dried arbol chiles
• 3 dried guajillo chiles
• 1 dried ancho chile
• 8 – 12 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
• 1/2 cup fresh cilantro leaves, roughly chopped
• 1 Tbsp ground coriander
• 1 Tbsp ground cumin
• 1 Tbsp dried mint
• 1 Tbsp kosher salt
• juice of 1 lemon
• 2 Tbsp olive oil

Method:

1. In a medium bowl, combine 15 dried arbol chiles, 3 dried guajillo chiles, and 1 dried ancho chile, cover with boiling water, and soak until softened, about 30 minutes.
2. Once the chiles are rehydrated, drain, reserving the soaking water. Remove the stems and seeds, and roughly chop.
3. Using a food processor, blender, or immersion blender, combine the chopped chiles with 8 – 12 cloves garlic, roughly chopped, 1/2 cup fresh cilantro leaves, roughly chopped, 1 Tbsp ground coriander, 1 Tbsp ground cumin, 1 Tbsp dried mint, 1 Tbsp kosher salt, and juice of 1 lemon, and blend until smooth, adding some of the reserved chile soaking water, as needed (I used a couple of tablespoons).
4. Stir in 2 Tbsp olive oil to form a thick paste, then transfer to a jar, top with a layer of extra olive oil, and store in the refrigerator. Make sure the surface of the harissa is covered with a layer of oil every time you use it – when the harissa runs out, this spicy oil can be used for extra flavor anywhere you’d use olive oil.