It’s typically made from local fresh or dried peppers that are often smoked, along with seasonings like caraway, cumin and coriander seeds, garlic, mint, saffron, smoked paprika and salt. The mixture is blended with oil to form a chili paste that builds flavor and helps it remain fresher longer. Commonly used peppers are roasted red bell peppers, serrano peppers, and Baklouti peppers, though a popular version is to use dried chile peppers (chiles de arbol, ancho peppers, guajillo peppers, pasilla peppers), which I use for my recipe. The paste has a deeply earthy flavor that is rich and spicy, and it’s quite aromatic. The flavors do vary from region to region, based on the peppers and the spices used, but it is always aromatic and concentrated with flavors. A little bit goes a long way, so use sparingly in your recipes.
Dried Chilies - I’m using guajillo, ancho, pasilla, and chile de arbol for a bit of extra heat. Tomato Paste - Optional Roasted Red Peppers - Red bells. Optional, but I love it. Seasonings - Caraway, coriander and cumin seeds, salt. Oil - Use the best extra virgin olive oil. Fresh Garlic Lemon Juice
Toast and grind the seeds. Dry toast the caraway seeds, coriander sees and cumin seeds in a pan until they are fragrant, about 2-3 minutes. Cool then grind them up with a mortar and pestle. Into the food processor they go. Process the harissa paste. Add in your olive oil, garlic, salt and lemon juice, and process to form a paste. Strain for a smoother harissa.
