Harous

(4,892)

This southern Tunisian sauce has a deep, husky red pepper flavor that's excellent with soups, meat, poultry, fish and couscous dishes. More Fast and Easy Ethnic Recipes

Active Time:
20 mins
Total Time:
20 mins
Yield:
makes 1/2 cup
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Ingredients

  • 1 medium onion, very thinly sliced

  • Pinch of turmeric

  • 2 tablespoons kosher salt

  • 4 ancho chiles, stemmed and seeded

  • 3 dried chipotle chiles, stemmed and seeded

  • 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander

  • 1/2 teaspoon ground caraway seeds

  • 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

  • Pinch of cinnamon

  • 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

Directions

  1. In a shallow bowl, toss the onion slices with the turmeric and salt. Cover the onion with plastic wrap and let stand overnight at room temperature.

  2. Meanwhile, heat a cast-iron skillet until hot to the touch. Add the anchos and chipotles and toast over moderate heat, pressing lightly with a spatula until the chiles are very pliable and fragrant, about 1 minute. Transfer the chiles to a work surface and let cool completely, then tear them into 1-inch pieces. In a spice grinder, coarsely grind the chiles.

  3. Drain the onion slices in a strainer, pressing hard to extract as much liquid as possible. Transfer the onions to a food processor and pulse until pureed. Add the ground chiles, coriander, caraway, pepper and cinnamon and process to a paste. With the machine on, gradually add the olive oil and puree until fairly smooth.

Make Ahead

The harous can be refrigerated for up to 6 months.

Originally appeared: February 2006

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