Fermented Peppers for Harissa

I have been interested in making harissa for quite a while. I do not make anything too spicy in our house, in deference to my husband, who cannot tolerate the heat. Some months ago, I made an attempt at harissa and it was okay, but for me, had strange flavors. I just couldn't truly say I enjoyed the flavor. And yet, it seemed there must be a combination I would like. After all, there is nothing in the mixture that I don't like. So, what could I do to make it more palatable?

Fermented Pepper Rose Harissa

Okay, since I am not from Africa or anywhere near, coming to get to know harissa was something like an exploratory safari, never knowing what is around the next corner. I must confess, I have never even bought harissa, so I have no basis for comparison. Still, from everything I have read, "fiery" is most often applied among the descriptors for this condiment. Maybe this is what has kept me from ever buying it. Just as I have never bought Thai Red Curry Paste, but always made my own version. Personally, I am not afraid of a little heat, but too much means (to me) that I won't be able to use much, therefore not being able to really taste what it is, and then of course, my husband wouldn't be able to eat something if I made it too hot. So, my own versions are mild, at best. I can always add a sprinkle of cayenne to my plate, or a bit of sriracha, if I want more heat.

What is Harissa?

Fermented Pepper Rose Harissa

Harissa is a mainly a north African (Tunisia, Morocco, etc) condiment, made from peppers of some kind, be they hot dried chili peppers or a mixture of these hot peppers combined with red bell peppers. To these are added at minimum garlic and olive oil, and combined to make a paste. 

At maximum? A whole lot of other flavors can be added in, but the main ones seem to be cumin, caraway, coriander, sometimes preserved lemon, sometimes rose petals and/or rose water, sometimes paprika, sometimes smoked or hot paprika, or both, or all three. Of course, as with anything else, the variety changes with each cook. So, is my harissa anything authentic? Probably not. But it's tasty. And not too hot.

My Inspiration

A couple of years ago I got heavily into fermenting foods. Fermenting foods is the earliest form of food preservation, and it is a lot safer than canning, despite peoples' fears. You see, botulism, that specter that hangs over us when we start home canning, ferments out during the fermentation process. While I loved the whole process of fermenting, and still have sauerkraut and fermented curtido in my fridge, as well as my Honey Fermented Cran-Blueberry Relish, my husband won't eat them. Don't precisely know why. So again, it's just me, and it takes a while to consume these things. 

Still, when I received my latest Saveur magazine and read about Cortney Burns and her preference for fermented things, and with a recipe for Harissa, well, I was wholly intrigued. I had no prior knowledge of Ms. Burns, but I took her concept for fermenting red bell peppers as the base for my harissa. After that, I went out on my own, adding things I thought would work for me. Some are in her recipe, others are ingredients I selected from other recipes I had read.

Preserved Lemon and Rose Petals

For example, I have seen the use of preserved lemon in some harissa recipes, and I happen to have a jar of preserved lemons (read: partially fermented) in the fridge. The amounts of spices varies widely from recipe to recipe. Cumin is low on my list of spices I really enjoy. If I taste a dominant flavor of cumin, it is way too much for me. If you love cumin, add in more! 

Another Case of Mistaken Identity?

One thing I am truly curious about is the use of caraway. I have seen caraway in breads, of course. And I have used caraway in my sauerkraut and other things German. But somehow it has never been seen in any of my Middle Eastern recipes before. This makes me wonder if, as with Indian cooking, caraway as the seed we know in the US, might be misinterpreted.

I know there are various spices in Indian recipes that are misinterpreted, because whoever wrote a certain recipe knew what THEY were writing about, but others would not necessarily be in the know. "Bay Leaf" in India refers to another leaf entirely, called Tej Patta. Tej Patta tastes more like cinnamon that anything else. Certainly not at all like our domestic bay laurel leaf. And then I discovered that often when an Indian recipe calls for "caraway," they actually mean black cumin (Bunium persicum), which is totally different, and with completely different flavors. Black cumin is used in the Middle East, so could it be that when they write "caraway," they might actually mean black cumin? I may never know. But still I wonder...

And meanwhile, for this time at least, I used actual Caraway seed (Carum carvi).

And then, with anything fermented, since a heavy dose of salt is always part of the mix (this keeps down bacteria until the fermenting process takes hold), you end up with a highly salted mixture. In this instance, since the peppers are lightly fermented, and then dehydrated to a paste, that salt has now become a pretty concentrated and dominant part of the flavor. Then again, if you are careful with the salt in a dish, and use this harissa instead, things should balance out well.

Fermented Pepper Rose Harissa

Fermented Pepper Rose Harissa

Makes 2¼ cups, approximately

Special tools: dehydrator recommended
 
ONE WEEK AHEAD:
2.5 pounds red bell peppers
4 to 5 teaspoons Kosher salt
----------------------------
1½ teaspoons coriander seeds
1 teaspoon caraway seeds
1 teaspoon fennel seeds
1 teaspoon black peppercorns
½ teaspoon cumin seeds
⅓ to ½ cup olive oil
1 shallot, minced finely
8 cloves garlic, finely minced, or passed through a garlic press
1 tablespoon paprika
1 teaspoon hot ground chili powder (pure ground chilies)
¼ wedge of preserved lemon, finely minced, optional
1 tablespoon tomato paste
2 tablespoons food grade dried rose petals, ground, optional
1 teaspoon honey
1 teaspoon rose water, optional

At least one week ahead, prepare the red bell peppers: Seed and core the peppers and cut into chunks. Set pieces into a high powered blender or food processor with the salt and puree finely. Pour this puree into a quart or slightly larger capacity jar, preferably with a bail wire closure. Place a piece of plastic wrap directly onto the surface of the puree and close the jar. Set the jar in a dark area, preferably at 60 to 70 degrees. If the area is not dark, cover the jar with a towel to keep out light. Every day for the next 6 days, remove the plastic wrap and stir the mixture. Replace with clean plastic wrap onto the surface each day before sealing the jar. On the 7th day, the pepper puree should have fermented slightly (giving a mildly sour flavor) and will have separated into solids and liquids.

Pour this mixture into a wide, low container and set into a dehydrator at less than 115 degrees, stirring occasionally, until the mixture has the consistency of tomato paste. This can take 10 to 16 hours. Alternately, if your oven has a very low setting, it can be dried there, but will likely take less time. Watch carefully. Once the peppers reach the right consistency, you can proceed to making the harissa immediately, or put the paste into a jar in the refrigerator up to a week before using.

TO MAKE HARISSA: Place the coriander, caraway, fennel, peppercorns and cumin into a very hot, dry skillet and heat until very fragrant, taking care not to burn. Pour the toasted seeds onto a plate to cool, then grind to a fine powder in a spice grinder. Set aside.

Making the  Harissa

Heat the olive oil in the same skillet over very low heat. Add in the minced shallot and garlic with the ground seeds, the paprika, hot pepper powder and preserved lemon. Stir well and allow this mixture to cook extremely gently for about 45 minutes. There should be no simmering, and little sign of cooking aside from the lovely aroma. Place the rose petals into the spice grinder and grind fine. Add these with the tomato paste and honey to the skillet and stir well. Allow to cook gently for another 5 minutes or more. Stir in the rose water and the fermented red pepper paste and stir well. Pour the mixture into a clean jar and refrigerate until needed. 



My passion is teaching people how to create a harmony of flavors with their cooking, and passing along my love and joy of food, both simple or exotic, plain or fancy. I continue my journey in ethnic and domestic cuisines, continuing my journey to explore diverse culinary experiences and hopefully to start you on a journey of your own. Join me also at A Harmony of Flavors on Facebook, and Pinterest.

First Time Working with Lamb Shanks

I should make that plural and say '"First Times" Working with Lamb Shanks'. This dish turned out so good I made it twice in a couple of weeks in December. Prior to that I had never made lamb shanks before. The one big reason for this is that I had never been able to find lamb shanks in past, but recently our local Walmart store has been carrying them! Since this happy event coincided with all the delving into Middle Eastern cuisine of late, it was truly serendipitous.

The first time I made this recipe, it was after reading into all the new cookbooks my husband had gotten for me so I could learn about Middle Eastern flavors and cuisines, and then searching the internet for recipes using lamb shanks in particular. I wished I had a lovely tagine pot to use, but alas, that is still somewhere in the future, for me. I still hold out hopes. 😉 
 

Moroccan Style Lamb Shanks served with Freekah and Msemen

As usual, after extensive reading, I start writing down the things that sounded good to me for a recipe. I have mentioned before that I am not a huge fan of cumin. I realize that it is used extensively in many cuisines, but if I can taste cumin as a predominant flavor, it is too much. For me, that ruins the dish completely. I do use cumin - even extensively. I just do not add it in larger amounts. So if someone uses a tablespoon of cumin in a dish - I don't care how large the overall servings - it is going to overwhelm. I trim back the amounts to what I can tolerate. In a similar manner, I have learned to use fractions of the amounts of hot chilies and hot spices, because my husband cannot tolerate them. My harissa mixture has all the flavors, but only a tiny fraction of cayenne. And so this is how I concoct a recipe; an eye out for things that appeal, or things that don't, as it should be for anyone who loves cooking.

Moroccan Style Lamb Shanks on the bone

Once I had all the ingredients written down as I wanted, I began to put together this wonderfully flavored dish using lamb shanks, and it came out so heavenly good that I made it a second time about 10 days later.  

I began with creating a wet spice mixture. I had made "Rose Harissa" a week or so prior to making this dish, and used some of that Harissa in my wet spices. Saffron is a true favorite of mine, and as my husband has no problem with saffron flavor, I do use it in some quantity. I had read in various places that pounding garlic, salt and saffron together is a good beginning for the wet spices that will go into this stew. 

The first two photos in the series below show the garlic, salt and saffron whole, then pounded together. In the third photo across the top row I have blended the whole spices into a powder and add these to the garlic mixture along with some oil and Rose Harissa, 4th photo across top. (If you have regular Harissa, simply adding some soaked rose petals and/or rose flower water, about 1 tsp per cup of Harissa, will give you "Rose Harissa"). This, in turn gets mixed together with a can of petite diced tomatoes, making the base sauce, 5th photo across top. 

Assembling Moroccan Style Lamb Shanks

In the second row of photos, the lamb shanks are first browned (photo 1), then onions are sauteed (photo 2), then combined in a heavy Dutch oven (photo 3), along with other flavorings (ginger, thyme, green chilies) in photo 4, then the spice mixture is poured over along with some stock. This part of assembly takes a little time, but once assembled, it can be put into a slow cooker for quite a few hours or in a Dutch oven and baked very slowly for a couple of hours before you even have to think of it again.

I have added in dried fruits to cook for the last half hour. A guest had issues with the seeds in the figs (!) but aside from that, it is a lovely, well flavored dish, and the lamb positively falls from the bones, as is seen in the photo at the top of this page. Each lamb shank, though they do have a large bone, still feed at least two people easily. If you are very conservative in portion size, I would say you could feed 6. The first time I made these I served them with couscous. The second time I made them I served them with Freekah, which was also delicious. A side of rice or even potatoes would also go well, depending on your taste.

Moroccan Style Lamb Shanks

Serves 4

Moroccan Style Lamb Shanks off the bone

1 tablespoon olive oil
2 lamb shanks
2 onions, chopped
 
SAUCE:
8 cloves garlic
1 teaspoon salt
Pinch saffron (or to taste)
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 teaspoon coriander seeds
1 teaspoon fennel seeds
1 tablespoon paprika
1 teaspoon Ceylon cinnamon
1 - 2 tablespoons Rose Harissa
1 can (14.5 ounces) petite diced tomatoes

OTHER:
1 (walnut sized) piece fresh ginger, minced
1 green chili pepper, more if desired
1 sprig fresh thyme
1½ - 2 cups chicken stock

FRUITS:
10 dried apricots, halved
10 dried figs, halved
10 Medjool dates, halved, pitted

Have ready a large oven safe pot with lid, preferably enameled cast iron. Heat oven to 225 or 250, whichever will maintain a low simmer. Or, if using a slow cooker, have it ready.

In a large skillet, heat the olive oil and brown the lamb shanks all over on medium high heat. Remove them to the pot (or slow cooker). Add the onions to the skillet and saute over medium or medium low, until golden. Pour the onions over top of the lamb shanks.

Meanwhile, place the cumin, coriander and fennel seeds into a spice grinder and grind to powder. With a mortar and pestle, smash to a paste the garlic, salt and saffron. Once done, add in the ground trio of spices along with the Ceylon cinnamon and paprika. Add in a teaspoon of olive oil if needed to make a paste. Stir in the Rose Harissa. Pour the petite diced tomatoes into a mixing bowl and now add the spice mixture to the tomatoes, stirring to combine. Pour all of this mixture over top of the lamb shanks and onions in the pot. Add in the minced ginger and thyme. The green chili can be left whole and just pierced with the tip of a knife, to give flavor but no heat. If you like the heat, chop the chili or chilies, with or without seeds to regulate the heat level. Pour chicken stock over all, until it reaches about ⅔ of the way up the sides of the lamb shanks. Bring the pot to a boil, then cover with tight fitting lid and set in oven. Allow to simmer slowly for at least 2 hours. If using a crock pot, allow at least 5 hours on low, or follow the settings on your slow cooker.

A half hour prior to serving, add in the dried fruits. Stir in, then cover and return to the oven for another 30 minutes. The meat should be falling off the bones. Serve with couscous, freekah, bulghur, rice or potatoes, as desired. 


My passion is teaching people how to create a harmony of flavors with their cooking, and passing along my love and joy of food, both simple or exotic, plain or fancy. I continue my journey in ethnic and domestic cuisines, continuing my journey to explore diverse culinary experiences and hopefully to start you on a journey of your own. Join me also at A Harmony of Flavors on Facebook, and Pinterest.