Thursday, June 4, 2009

Zhug (Yemeni Hot Paste)


Yemeni cooking is characterized by its extremely hot & fiery dishes and nothing exemplifies this more than zhug(zhough), a green chilli-cardamom paste.Zhug is found on every Yemeni table.It is used as a condiment in all kinds of dishes from soups, stews,meat dishes, and as a dip for bread.No Yemeni meal is complete without the addition of this paste.The following recipe yields enough for a small jar which considering the amount of chillies it has,only a small amount is required.


Yield:1 1/2 c


Ingredients:

4-6 fresh green chillies, chopped

6 cloves of garlic, peeled & roughly chopped

1/4 tsp. ground cardamom

a handful fresh cilantro leaves, roughly chopped

1 tsp. black pepper

1 tsp. salt

2 tbsp. olive oil



  1. In a blender or food processor,puree the chillies.Add the garlic , cardamom and puree again.Add the remaining ingredients.Blend well.

  2. Put the zhug in a glass jar and keep it in the refrigerator until rready to use.

2 comments:

  1. Yum ... I have a jar of something quite similar on hand in my fridge all the time too .. spread it on everything!! But yours has that added touch of the cardamom which is new for me .. that can only be good!

    ReplyDelete
  2. This looks and sounds delicious! And this picture is beautiful!

    ReplyDelete