(unorthodox) Muhammara
In my estimation dips range from the divine to the disgusting. Memories of bright pink taramasalata, fake chemical tasting french onion and heavy, tasteless hummous turned me off dips for a terribly long time
A recent visit to the wonderful Almond Bar switched it all around. A luscious trio of dips was memorable, and so tasty that the portions seem to last forever. Spicy almond and creamy garlic were delicious, but overshadowed by the red – red capsicum, walnut and pomegranate dip. In a fortuitous situation, my two dining companions and myself each had a different favourite. Red, similar to the Syrian Muhammara, rekindled my interest in dips, and so I tried to replicate it.
Creamy, crunchy, sweet, earthy, a depth of flavour that belies its simple ingredients list. My version is far from traditional, and very different from the Almond Bar’s Red.
Unorthodox Muhammarra
1 cup walnuts
1.5 cups roasted red capsicum (lazily, i used some from a jar)
2T lemon juice
1T balsamic vinegar
1t ground cumin
1/4t chilli flakes
2T extra virgin olive oil
Toast walnuts in a pan over medium heat until fragrant and browned. Cool.
Blend walnuts lightly, then add rest of ingredients and blend until combined. Season with salt and pepper and more lemon juice, if necessary.
Let sit for an hour or so for flavours to combine, and eat with cheese, vegetables and crackers with red wine – like I am going to just now.
This work, unless otherwise expressly stated, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported License.
2 Comments
Hey Lili
Entering my territory here. The secret to muhammara is pomegranate molasses. You can get it at any Lebanese shop. Closest to you would be Abu Hachem’s in Dulwich Hill, right across the road from the train station. DJ’s sell it for around $12, and here you can get it for less than $5. Oh, and the white bean dip is oh so good when you add tahini to it.
SydneyCider’s last blog post..Sydney Secret Dinners
Oh! Great news – I have only seen ridiculously expensive pomegranate molasses and I still have that student mentality, you know? I will go and buy some tomorrow, thanks!
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