Harissa with rose water

Inspired by Ottolenghi cooking, this recipe is a must to have in the fridge to accompany any meal. I had made modifications not to make it too hot, but still keeping the flavour of chillies.

Makes about 11⁄2 cups 

Harissa is a North African chilli paste that’s wonderful when stirred into soups and stews or spooned over roasted vegetables and meats. 

Store-bought harissas are available by the jar or tube at many Mediterranean markets or online at Kalustyan’s, but making your own is a fun and easy way to customize the flavour. 

Place a large frying pan over high heat. Once the pan is very hot, add the chillies and garlic. Toast until fragrant and charred, about 2 minutes. Pick out the garlic and set aside. Transfer the chillies to a heat-proof bowl. 

Pour enough boiling water over the chillies to cover them, and then weigh them down with a small plate. Soak for 30 minutes to soften and rehydrate, then strain. Roughly chop the chillies and add them to the bowl of a food processor. 

Meanwhile, add the cumin, coriander, and caraway seeds to the same pan, and toast over medium-high heat until fragrant, 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer the seeds to a mortar and pestle and roughly crush them before adding them to the food processor along with the chopped chillies, garlic, tomato paste, rose petals, sugar, and chilli powder or paprika. Pulse a few times until roughly chopped and combined. 

Add the lemon juice, half of the rosewater, the cider vinegar, 4 tablespoons of olive oil, and a pinch of salt to the food processor. Blitz until you have a coarse paste. 

Transfer the mixture to a bowl and gently stir in the remaining rosewater and the remaining 4 tablespoons of olive oil. 

Transfer the harissa to a sterilized airtight jar and keep refrigerated if not using right away. Harissa keeps, covered with a layer of oil, in the refrigerator for several weeks. 

40 g dried guajillo chillies 
25 g dried ancho chillies 
4 garlic cloves, peeled 2 tsp cumin seeds
1 tbsp coriander seeds 11⁄2 tsp caraway seeds 1 tbsp tomato paste 
1 tbsp dried rose petals 
11⁄2 tsp granulated sugar 
11⁄2 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder, or paprika 
2 tbsp lemon juice 
1 tbsp rosewater, divided 
4 tbsp cider vinegar
1⁄2 cup olive oil, divided 11⁄2 tsp salt