Sunday, 6 April 2014

Muhammara (Middle Eastern chilli and nut dip)

Muhammara (or m'hammara) is a dip found over the Middle East and and beyond (there's also an Armenian version called garmeroug), its origins are said to lie in the Syrian city of Aleppo. Primarily it consists of either fresh or dried peppers, ground walnuts and olive oil, flavoured with pomegranate molasses and sumac. It can be eaten as a dip, spread on bread or served as a sauce, typically for grilled meats or fish.
I was inspired to make this after reading the Comptoir Libanais cookbook, but I've moved away from the traditional ingredients slightly, I had a bag of ground hazelnuts in the cupboard that needed to be used up, also I had no aleppo pepper, which is the type of chilli that most versions are based on, however I did have some dried ancho chillies which I figured would give a nice earthy smokiness to the finished dish.
It's pretty easy to make, and with the exception of the time taken to roast the peppers, it's something that can be whizzed up in minutes.


Ingredients
2 red sweet peppers
2 large ancho chillies
100g ground nuts (I used hazelnuts, traditionally walnuts are used)
1 tsp sumac
1 tsp ground cumin 
1 large garlic clove (crushed)
1 tablespoon pomegranate molasses
Olive oil
Handful of fresh coriander (optional)
Salt to taste 

1. Roast the peppers until the skin is blackened, allow to cool and peel
2. While the peppers are roasting soak the ancho chillies in boiling water (for around 30 minutes)
3. Add the cooled and peeled sweet peppers, rehydrated chillies and coriander to a blender with a dash of olive oil (can add more to taste) and the pomegranate molasses and blend until smooth. 
4. Stir in the nuts, crushed garlic, sumac and cumin. Add salt to taste.
5. Eat!

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