Muhammara

Mediterranean Red Pepper Dip

Hello,

When I am back in the area where I grew up the NPR station to listen to is WAMC out of Albany. What’s appealing to me is hearing stories about places I am familiar with. Professors from Union College may be interviewed about an event in the national news or the owner of the Open Door bookstore may come on to review a book. I first discovered Tara Kitchen when the owner Aneesa Waheed was interviewed on Food Friday. Waheed is a bundle of infectious energy who owns three restaurants in the Capital district as well as one in Wildwood, New Jersey, one in Manhattan, and now one in India. She emigrated to the United States at the age of sixteen from Mumbai, India, and graduated from high school in Schenectady, NY. She fell in love with Moroccan food after traveling to Marakeesh and eventually started selling Moroccan food at a Maker’s Market. Waheed has no professional training as a chef but seems to soak up information like a sponge. During the radio interview, she mentioned introducing Moroccan cuisine to children at local schools and a visit to my high school website showed that she had done a demo there for the Culinary Arts students.

The Maker’s Market led to the opening of her first restaurant in Schenectady in 2012 where my husband, son, and I recently enjoyed dinner. Her signature tagines, either meat, seafood, or vegan, incorporate fragrant spices along with dried fruits or preserved lemons. One of our favorite dishes was a dip made from eggplant, roasted garlic, and tomato served with what the menu describes as pita. Searching online for Mediterranean recipes for dips I discovered this recipe for Muhammara made with roasted red peppers. Tara Kitchen’s pita was delicious and superior to any I had ever tasted, maybe because it is made on the premises. I’m not sure. The first time that I prepared the Muhammara I attempted to make the Moroccan flatbread khobz that is pictured below with the dip. However, my bread was overly dense probably because I substituted some of the white flour for whole wheat. When I made the dip again I toasted thin slices of crusty whole wheat bread (from the store) and that worked well.

My roasted red pepper dip differs slightly from the one that I linked to. I wound up looking at so many recipes that mine combines several, and I encourage anyone to play around with it. I made the pomegranate molasses from scratch as I was doubtful that I could purchase any locally and even though the recipe calls for a small amount, you can detect its distinctive taste. I removed all the arils from one pomegranate, pressed the arils through a sieve to extract the juice, and simmered over low heat with a bit of sugar until it thickened.

Muhammara

Ingredients

2 red peppers

1 clove garlic

2 T. olive oil

1/4 small red onion

2 T. tomato paste

1 t. cumin

1/4 t. red pepper flakes

1 T. pomegranate molasses

1/2 lemon, juiced

1 t. salt

1/4 t. black pepper

Directions

Slice the peppers into thirds lengthwise. Remove the seeds. Place the pieces under the broiler with the outside of the peppers facing the broiler coils. Broil for about 10 minutes until charred. Cool. Remove the blackened skin.

Place all ingredients into the bowl of a food processor and mix on high.

Done!

Thanks for reading!

Vicki