What is harissa, recipes for making. Benefits and harm to the body, composition and calorie content. Use in cooking, recipes.
Harissa (arissa) is a spicy aromatic sauce (sometimes the term is used for a mixture of spices), a popular food product of Tunisia and southern Algeria, the national dish of the cuisine of the North African peoples. The consistency is pasty, the color is necessarily red, the smell is rich, spicy, the pungency depends on the composition and spices. Chili and garlic are required ingredients.
How is harissa sauce made?
There are many recipes for making seasonings, but you can't make real harissa without hot peppers and garlic. However, Europeans, who are afraid of too hot spices, adapted the recipe and use sweet bell pepper as the main ingredient. True, they choose the most juicy and spicy fruits of green or red color. If guests are expected, the preparation of the harissa begins in advance, 2-3 days in advance. The sauce should be infused. On a baking sheet greased with sunflower oil, spread 1 kg of sweet pepper, without peeling, and sprinkle with oil on top. Cover with foil and bake for 40 minutes at 180 ° C. Then the fruits are cleaned by cutting in half - that's enough. Remove the skin, remove the stalk, partitions, seeds. Prepared raw materials are poured into the bowl of a food processor or blender. Zira (2-3 tbsp. L.) Is ground in advance and added to vegetable preparations along with coarse salt (1 tbsp. L.). The paste is transferred to a sterilized glass jar, the surface is poured with olive oil, and the lid is tightened. Tasting is desirable for 2-3 days.
According to the classic recipe, harissa is prepared, as in an adapted version for Europeans. Only chili is used instead of sweet bell pepper. Dried coriander is added as an additional ingredient. To speed up the process, fresh, spicy fruits can be replaced with pepper flakes. In total, you need 350 g - 250 g of red and 100 g of hot peppers. Pour dry ingredients into a blender bowl, pour in a glass of warm boiled water and add spices: 6 garlic teeth, it is better to transfer first, 1 tbsp. l. salt, 70 ml of olive oil. You can experiment with ingredients. But even with an increase in the amount of oil, the taste can be described as "fire in the mouth."
European chefs have developed a recipe for harissa sauce with an almost delicate taste. Grind in advance in a mortar for 1 tbsp. l. caraway seeds, coriander and dried parsley (you can use fresh herbs, but then the amount should be increased by 1.5 times). Grind together 600 ml of thick tomato juice or paste, prepared spices, 50 ml of garlic puree, half a chili pod (removing the partitions and seeds, you can remove the bitterness), 150 ml of olive oil and salt to taste. This sauce is moderately spicy. It can be eaten immediately after production, but it is advisable to refrigerate it.
Another option for a hot seasoning, not very hot: 2 bell peppers are baked in the oven, as already described. Mix hot workpieces without seeds and skins, 4 chili, 2 tsp. ground cumin and the same amount of coriander, 3 garlic prongs, 1 tsp each. granulated sugar and salt, 2 tbsp. l. lemon juice and olive oil.
When choosing a seasoning when visiting North Africa, you should pay attention to color and consistency. The very bright color of the harissa indicates a high amount of chemical additives. In addition, delamination should not be observed. The structure must be uniform.
The shelf life of a store product is 6 weeks in a refrigerator in a sealed container and 3-5 days after opening.
For those who have joined the national cuisine of Tunisia, it is difficult to forget the burning and spicy taste. To reproduce it more accurately on your own, it is advisable to lay out the finished product only hot and in dry cans, use extra virgin olive oil.
In Tunisia, you can buy harissa both in shops - small and large, and in souvenir shops. The cost for a 135 g package is 0.5-1 dinars. The best brand is Le Phare du Cap Bon, with a lighthouse on the label. Export has been established to European countries, but not yet supplied to the territory of Ukraine, Russia and Belarus. Therefore, you should not order on the Internet - it will most likely turn out to be a fake.
Composition and calorie content of harissa
Harissa sauce in the photo
Despite the fact that one of the ingredients in the seasoning is olive oil, it can be classified as a dietary product. Homemade options do not contain any GMO additives.
The calorie content of harissa is 50 kcal per 100 g, of which:
- Proteins - 2 g;
- Carbohydrates - 8 g;
- Fats - up to 2 g.
Vitamins per 100 g:
- Vitamin B1 - 0.01 mg;
- Vitamin B2 - 0.09 mg;
- Vitamin B6 - 0.14 mg;
- Vitamin B9 - 11 mcg;
- Vitamin C - 30 mg;
- Vitamin PP - 0.6 mg;
- Choline - 6, 1 mg.
Mineral composition per 100 g:
- Sodium - 25 mg;
- Potassium - 564 mg;
- Phosphorus - 16 mg;
- Magnesium - 12 mg;
- Calcium - 9 mg;
- Copper - 0.09 mg;
- Selenium - 0.2 mg;
- Zinc - 0.15 mg;
- Iron - 0.5 mg.
But this is not the full composition of the harissa. The sauce contains essential oils, organic acids - oxalic, malic, tartaric, acetic, lycopene and capsaicin. The latter substance has the property of burning fat, therefore, the seasoning is recommended to be introduced into the diet for weight loss. But before using a new sauce on an ongoing basis, you should study the effects on the body.
Useful properties of harissa
The spicy recipe was developed for a reason. Due to its antiseptic and antibacterial effect, the seasoning slows down the deterioration of the food with which it is consumed. In the era when there were no refrigerators, this property was considered the most valuable.
Harissa benefits:
- It increases the body's defenses, stimulates the production of macrophages, and reduces the risk of contracting ARVI during the epidemic season.
- Suppresses the activity of pathogenic microorganisms, preventing the development of caries and periodontitis.
- Stimulates the production of endorphins, has, albeit mild, analgesic effect.
- Dissolves cholesterol deposited on the walls of blood vessels.
- Strengthens peristalsis.
- Delays age-related changes, with regular introduction into the diet, degenerative-dystrophic processes of the body - arthrosis and osteochondrosis, atherosclerosis - develop later. Less often, gout and arthritis are exacerbated.
Scientists have found that the pungent seasoning of harissa has an antioxidant effect, inhibits the malignancy of neoplasms. The recommended dosage is 1-1.5 tsp. for food intake and no more than 3 tsp. during the day.
