Harissa (Chilli Paste)

Method

Harissa is the chilli paste that functions as both a cooking ingredient and a table condiment across Morocco and the wider Maghreb, and making your own is straightforward and far more nuanced than most commercial versions. Start with the dried chillies. Snap off the stalks and shake out most of the seeds — leaving some in raises the heat, so adjust to taste — then put the chillies in a heatproof bowl and cover with boiling water. Leave them to soak for twenty to thirty minutes until fully softened and pliable.

While the chillies soak, toast the whole spices. Put the caraway, coriander, and cumin seeds in a dry pan over a moderate heat and shake them constantly until they are fragrant and just beginning to colour — a minute or two, no more, as burnt spice turns bitter. Tip them out at once to stop the cooking, let them cool, then grind them to a powder in a spice grinder or with a pestle and mortar. Toasting and grinding fresh is what gives harissa its warm, aromatic backbone rather than a flat, one-note heat.

Drain the softened chillies well, squeezing out excess water, and put them in a food processor or mortar with the garlic, the freshly ground spices, the salt, and the red wine vinegar. Blitz or pound to a coarse paste, then drizzle in most of the olive oil as you go, until you have a thick, spoonable moroccan-cuisine|paste with a little texture rather than a smooth purée. Taste and adjust the salt and the vinegar; it should be hot, but rounded and savoury, with the toasted spice clearly present.

Scrape the harissa into a clean jar and level the surface, then pour the remaining olive oil over the top to seal it from the air. Kept covered with a film of oil in the fridge, it will keep for two to three weeks; top up the oil each time you dig into it. Stir a spoonful into tagines and soups for depth, whisk it with more oil and lemon as a dressing, or simply set it on the table so people can adjust the heat of their own bowls — the active condiment at the heart of a Moroccan meal.