Everyday Epicurean

While shopping yesterday, I spied Birds-Eye Chillies, 3 for 20c, so I bought 21 of them. Figuring I’d probably do something Moorish sometime this week, I also bought a packet of Coriander plants (i.e. leaves, stems and roots minus dirt), about six of them I think.

So today I decided to consult my handy copy of “Moorish” by Greg and Lucy Malouf to see what I could make. I settled on Zhoug, a fiery hot relish from Yemen, as I had all the ingredients, and it would inspire me to make something to go with it later in the week.

You can eat it on grilled Turkish bread or Lebanese Flat bread, possibly with a little yoghurt, or it goes well with fish, chicken or meat dishes that need a bit of extra zing!

Ingredients.

• 4 cardamon pods
• 1 teaspoon of black peppercorns
• 1 teaspoon of caraway seeds
• 2 cups of fresh coriander (leaves and upper stems – retain the roots and lower stems to use in something else)
• 6 bullet (or in this case Bird’s Eye) chillies (the original recipe called for seeding and scraping the chillies, but I didn’t bother)
• 6 cloves of garlic
• one quarter teaspoon of salt
• a splash of water (about 2 tablespoons)

Method.

Crack and coarse grind the black peppercorns in a mortar with a pestle and set aside. Now crack the cardamon pods, remove the seeds and grind them. Dry roast the caraway seeds in a small cast iron skillet, then grind them in the mortar and pestle.

Wash and dry the coriander and chillies. Place all the ingredients in a food processor (or blender if you have one that will reach the bottom), and whizz until you have a relatively fine paste.

Place in a sterilised jar with a coating of olive oil. Store in the fridge for up to a week. (I find it keeps considerably longer than that, but a week is safe, beyond that you’re on your own).