Simple Harissa

In the digital world, inspiration [and samples] can be found in unlikely places. Dj Quik flips a musical moment from the Bizarre Foods show.

Tune: Hey Playa! (Moroccan Blues) by DJ Quik And Kurupt from BlaQKout

Musical break at about 2 minutes, just before they cook tajine.

My favorite street food I tasted in Morocco were sandwiches on toasted French bread with grilled merguez or lamb kefta with harissa and grilled onions and tomatoes.

I have recently updated my harissa recipe that I shared here a few years ago. The old recipe is great, this is just another variation:

Soul Cocina Harissa 2009

1 1/2 cup dried chillies*
4 cloves garlic
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon cumin seeds, toasted and ground
1 Tablespoon brown butter**

Cover chillies with boiling water and soak for one hour. Drain water. Rough chop the chillies. Pound all the ingredients together in a mortar and pestal to a paste.

*I like to use Kashmiri chillies. Not the small thin Kashmiri chillies that look and taste like cayenne aka chile de arbol. Rather the small, round, fat Kashmiri chillies sold at South Asian markets here in SF. They look like Mexican cascabel chillies, but taste a little different.

##brown butter is easily made by slowly melting butter and cooking until it becomes golden brown and the milk solids begin to toast. AKA buerre noisette.

Since I use this addictive combo of brown butter and these wonderful chillies, I don't like to add many other spices besides a little toasted cumin to this harrisa. I borrowed the brown butter idea from LoBue Events Just remember, when butter is cold it hardens and when it is hot it becomes liquid. So the temperature you serve the harissa at will effect the consistancy.

DJ Quik used this Bappi Lahari song as a sample for "Addictive" a while back. Check the history here The singer is the uber diva of Hindi film songs [and Marathi songs too], Lata Mangeshkar.

Tune: Thoda Resham Lagta Hai from the 1981 soundtrack for Jyoti