Hemlock's Recipes Harissa North African Chili Sauce Tailor-made for Moroccan or Tunisian recipes

Ingredients 1-2 whole chopped pimientos - sweet peppers (canned ones will work fine.  Tomato would also do, at a pinch.) 2 oz fresh hot red chillies 1/2 teaspoon salt 4 cloves garlic, chopped 1 teaspoon ground corianderseeds 1 teaspoon ground cumin lemon juice the best olive oil Preparation Mash the whole lot up in a mortar and pestel or a blender until it's a sauce.  Use the lemon juice sparingly to help it blend. Put it in a clean jar.  Top up with a layer of olive oil, and it should keep in the refrigerator for several weeks.

This won't match all non-North African cuisines.  Forget about using it with Chinese or Thai food, for example, or with Italian.  However, it is an essential accompaniment to such Maghrebi delights as cous-cous, and will probably complement many Arab and other Middle Eastern recipes Excellent with chickpeas and red beans, and for making batatas bravas. Use sparingly to add bite to lamb meatballs.  Harissa combined with a relatively inert binding material like bread or cous-cous, would probably make a dynamite stuffing for green olives.

Variations None that I can think of, though you could possibly experiement with introducing some fresh coriander (cilantro) into the mix