1 hr 15 mins plus cooling
Super easy
serves 10
About the recipe
Having a jar of this in your fridge is brilliant. My favourite way to eat it is with oily fish, such as mackerel or sardines. The rose petals are delicate and fragrant, and nicely balance the heat of the chillies. You can pretty much eat any garden rose, just make sure they haven't been sprayed with pesticides. If you can find some really wonderful-smelling roses, you’ll notice their fragrance will come through in the harissa.
Ingredients
350g ripe tomatoes
200g fresh red chillies
4 cloves of garlic
olive oil
2 teaspoons cumin seeds
1 teaspoon coriander seeds
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 handful of rose petals
3 tablespoons rose water
2 tablespoons caster sugar
red wine vinegar
extra virgin olive oil
Method
- Preheat the oven to 150°C/300°F/gas 2.
- Halve the tomatoes, then place cut-side up) in a large roasting tray with the chillies and unpeeled garlic cloves. Drizzle with olive oil, then season with sea salt and black pepper.
- Roast for 1 hour, giving the tray a little shake occasionally, then remove from the oven and leave to cool.
- Once the chillies are cool enough to handle, remove their stalks and deseed them (wear rubber gloves!). You can do this under running water, as it helps with washing the seeds away.
- Peel the garlic cloves and place in the food processor with the chillies. Pulse until roughly chopped, then add the cumin, coriander and paprika, season well with salt and pepper and pulse again.
- Add the tomatoes, rose petals (wash first), rose water and sugar, then pulse to a chunky paste.
- Transfer to a bowl and stir in a splash of red wine vinegar and 1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil. Have a taste – you want a good balance between the heat of the chillies, the smoky paprika, the sharpness of the vinegar and the fragrant rose petals – and adjust the seasoning, if needed.
- Spoon into a sterilised jar – it will keep in the fridge for up to a month.
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