Muhammara
Charred red peppers pounded with walnuts, breadcrumbs and pomegranate molasses into a rough, sweet-sour paste.
- Prep
- 15m
- Cook
- 30m
- Waiting
- 1h
- Total
- 1h 45m
- Serves
- 6
- Effort
- Easy
Method
Tap a step number to mark it done. Tap an ingredient once for got it, twice for need it.
| 4 | Blister the peppers under a hot grill, then steam them covered for 10 minutes 30m The steam lifts the skins away from the flesh so they peel off in sheets. | Pulse to a coarse paste and rest an hour before serving 5m Pulse, do not purée. It should still be gritty enough to hold the marks of a spoon. | |
| 1 tbsp | |||
| 120 g | Toast in a dry pan until they smell nutty, then cool completely 6m Warm walnuts turn oily in the processor. Cool them first. | ||
| 1 tsp | |||
| 40 g | |||
| 2 tbsp | |||
| 2 tsp | |||
| 1 tbsp | |||
| 1 clove | |||
| 1 tsp | |||
| 4 tbsp |
-
Blister the peppers under a hot grill, then steam them covered for 10 minutes
30m- red peppers 4
- olive oil 1 tbsp
The steam lifts the skins away from the flesh so they peel off in sheets.
-
Toast in a dry pan until they smell nutty, then cool completely
6m- walnuts 120 g
- cumin seeds 1 tsp
Warm walnuts turn oily in the processor. Cool them first.
-
Pulse to a coarse paste and rest an hour before serving
5m- from 1 Blister the peppers under a hot grill, then steam them covered for 10 minutes
- from 2 Toast in a dry pan until they smell nutty, then cool completely
- dried breadcrumbs 40 g
- pomegranate molasses 2 tbsp
- Aleppo pepper 2 tsp
- lemon juice 1 tbsp
- garlic 1 clove
- fine salt 1 tsp
- extra virgin olive oil 4 tbsp
Pulse, do not purée. It should still be gritty enough to hold the marks of a spoon.
Fat, acid and crumb
Walnuts are roughly two thirds oil, and once broken they release it fast. That oil is the body of the dip — there is no dairy and very little added fat doing the work. Toasting first drives off moisture and starts Maillard browning in the skins, which is where the faint bitterness that keeps the molasses in check comes from.
The breadcrumbs are structural. Starch absorbs the pepper water that would otherwise separate out and pool at the edge of the bowl within an hour.
Notes
- Peel the peppers properly but do not rinse them; you wash the smoke away.
- Pomegranate molasses varies wildly in sourness. Add half, taste, adjust.
- An hour of rest lets the crumbs hydrate. Straight away it tastes sandy.