Zhoug
Zhoug is a fiery chilli paste, around eleven out of ten on the chilli heat scale! It is fabulous with anything bland that needs spicing up and is stunning with hummous spread on pita bread or dry crackers, or almost anything!
This is a Yemenite version and it's a huge favourite with all my chilli freak friends. During a break in the recording session for the Big Rock "Ten Guitars" album at KB's studio on the coast I made a red hot batch of Zhoug which must have set fire to KB's imagination as well as his mouth, because it gave him the name for his hitherto untitled track. It sounds as hot as it tastes!
Warning: When made with hot chillies and seeds (such as serranos, which are my favourite) this condiment can be extremely hot. It is definitely not recommended for children or those with an aversion to hot food.
Ingredients:
- 6 to 8 hot chillies (Serranos, Bird's Eye or Habaneros - I use Serranos.) Include the seeds for maximum heat. Traditionally, green chillies are used for the colour, but I use red, green, whatever, as long as they're hot.
- 6 to 8 cloves of garlic, peeled.
- 1 teaspoon Cummin powder.
- 1/4 teaspoon Cardamon powder
- 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon salt (to taste)
- 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
- water
Method:
Combine all ingredients in a blender and process for a few seconds, adding water to adjust consistency. The result should be a chunky/smooth paste.
The above quantities will make enough Zhoug for a couple
of days.
Industrial Quantities: I usually make fairly large batches for distribution
to my friends, so I increase the ingredients tenfold, with a maximum of 5
or 6 teaspoons of spice mixture.
Zhoug will keep fresh in the refrigerator for days.
Funny Zhoug Story
A friend of mine on holiday overseas was asked by the waiter at his hotel if there was anything special he would like from the kitchen. My friend told him the simple recipe for Zhoug "equal amounts of chilli and garlic etc." The waiter strolled off happily with this information and in ten minutes or so returned triumphantly with the result. My friend eagerly tried the concoction only to find that it tasted SWEET rather than savoury. Expressing his dissapointment he reiterated "equal amounts of chilli and garlic etc." The second attempt returned as sweet as the first. How could this be? There's no mention of sugar in the recipe! My friend went to the kitchen to confront the chef, who complained apologetically "I put in Equal (a popular sugar-free sweetener) like the recipe said, but I can't find any of that stuff called "amounts"!" English was not his strong suit.
WARNING!
My best mate Noach recently made some zhoug with habaneros and I have to say it's the most dangerous mixture on the planet. Be very careful with dem habaneros!