Tabil

Coriander leads it, and the garlic goes in dried and ground rather than fresh.

Vegan.

Ingredients

• 6 tablespoons coriander seeds
• 2 tablespoons caraway seeds
• 3 tablespoons dried garlic granules
• 2 tablespoons mild chilli powder
• 1 teaspoon dried mint
• 1 teaspoon salt

Method

1. CORIANDER LEADS IT, and the garlic goes in dried and ground rather than fresh. Six tablespoons of coriander seed against two of caraway and three of dried garlic -- coriander is half the blend by volume, which is what makes tabil citrusy and warm rather than hot. And the garlic is dried: this is a dry store-cupboard mixture kept in a jar for months, and fresh garlic would make it a wet paste that spoils in a week. The word itself means seasoning, and it is used by the spoonful in almost everything, usually alongside the chilli paste rather than instead of it.
2. THE SEEDS ARE TOASTED AND THE GARLIC AND CHILLI ARE NOT. Coriander and caraway in a dry pan until fragrant, cooled and ground; the dried garlic, chilli powder, mint and salt stirred in afterwards. Garlic granules scorch almost instantly in a hot pan and turn acrid, and chilli powder burns.
3. IT IS GROUND COARSE RATHER THAN TO POWDER. Two or three pulses, or a few turns of a mortar, so the coriander is cracked rather than pulverised. A coarse blend keeps its aroma for months; a fine powder is dull in a fortnight.
4. THERE IS ONLY MILD CHILLI IN IT AND THAT IS DELIBERATE. Two tablespoons of a mild powder. Heat in Tunisian cooking comes from the chilli pastes, which are added separately and to taste -- so the dry blend is built for aroma and used in quantity, and making it fiery would prevent that.
5. IT IS MADE IN SMALL BATCHES AND USED WITHIN TWO MONTHS. This quantity is about twenty uses. Ground spice goes flat, and a large jar defeats the point of grinding it.
6. DRIED MINT IS A SMALL BUT REAL PART OF IT. A teaspoon, rubbed between the palms. It is easy to leave out and the blend is noticeably flatter without it.
7. The coriander and caraway seeds DRY-TOASTED in a pan, moving constantly, 2 to 3 MINUTES until fragrant.
8. Tipped out onto a cold plate and COOLED COMPLETELY.
9. GROUND COARSE -- 2 or 3 pulses, the coriander cracked rather than powdered.
10. The dried garlic granules, chilli powder, salt and the dried mint RUBBED BETWEEN THE PALMS stirred in. NOT toasted.
11. TESTED on a wet fingertip: coriander should be the first thing tasted. If chilli or caraway dominates, the proportions slipped.
12. Stored in a sealed jar away from light. Used within 2 months.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under Tunisia · All recipes