Originally a Syrian recipe, this Muhammara Dip (red capsicum and walnut) is often found as part of a meze platter. My friend Marie introduced me to this heavenly concoction and I instantly begged her for the recipe. I’ve played around with the recipe a bit (I can’t bloody help myself) and the result is this creamy red capsicum dip, with a hint of tartness and sweetness from the pomegranate molasses. If you like hummus, get cracking and make this, it is, if I do say so myself, phenomenal, and it’s wayyyyyy nicer than any hummus I’ve tried. It’s so good, I’ve made three batches of this in just over a week (!) and we are having it with everything: It goes beautifully with my morning poached eggs on toast, mixed in with yogurt as a creamy salad dressing, as a side sauce with roast veges, it’s also amazeballs with BBQ chicken. Oh, and it’s shit-hot in sandwiches in the place of mayo or sugar-laden relishes and chutneys.
I’ve made my Muhammara dip in my Nutribullet, and it works perfectly. You can, of course, use a food processor (I try to avoid using mine as much as possible because I’m lazy: I detest washing it up and putting it away in the cupboard!). Having looked at some other versions of the recipe online, I’ve noted the more traditional methods of making this dip is actually in a mortar and pestle, so the result is a dip that’s got a coarse, pesto-like, consistency. Yum, I’ll give this more authentic method a bash at some stage.
Note, If you don’t have pomegranate molasses – don’t fret, just leave it out, it’s not a deal breaker. In fact, I only just included pomegranate molasses in my latest batch as I only just made a trip to Vetro to get some more. Up until then I’d added a couple of dates for sweetness and a half teaspoon of balsamic vinegar in an attempt to get the sweet/tart hit (it worked well and I high-fived myself on my Kiwi cooking ingenuity). Similarly if you don’t have any smoked paprika, or cumin (etc), just leave it out. Feel free to add in a handful of fresh mint (I tried that – thumbs up). If you’ve followed my blog for a while you’ll know I’m a big fan of ‘making do’ in the kitchen, it’s such fun and some of my best recipes have come as a result of improvising. Get your creative on!
Muhammara Dip (Red Capsicum & Walnut)
Ingredients
- 400g jar roasted red peppers, drained
- 1 cup walnuts
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1/3 cup breadcrumbs (Panko, Japanese breadcrumbs are perfect)
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 2 teaspoons pomegranate molasses (substitute with more lemon juice if you don't have this)
- 1 + 1/2 teaspoon of ground cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper or dried chilli flakes
Instructions
- Place all ingredients in a food processor and process until smooth! Note, if you like a chunkier style dip, blitz until you have a coarse puree, this is how it's traditionally served in the Middle East)
- Serve Muhammara Dip with your favourite dip vessel. We love this with pita breads triangles that we've toasted on the BBQ, or with cucumber and carrot sticks.
- Store dip in the fridge, keeps for up to a week (but good luck with having it last that long).
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