Yemenite helbeh (dipping sauce)

1 Servings

Ingredients

Quantity Ingredient
2 tablespoons Fenugreek seeds
¼ cup Zhug (see recipe \"Yemenite zhug\")
½ small Lemon; juice of
1 Tomato

Directions

Date: Mon, 12 Feb 1996 09:09:19 +0200 (EET) From: David Barnett <davidb@...> That's interesting - I have her "Jewish Holiday Kitchen" cookbook, which also has a recipe for Zhug, but it was neither authentic nor good. The following is the translation of a recipe given to me by a Yemenite woman, who grows her own tiny peppers (I have no idea what variety, but they are much hotter than seranos). One thing the Yemenites do with it is make a "dipping sauce" (more of a spread, actually) that is eaten with bread, called Helbeh. This is adopted from Joan Nathan's recipe:

1. Let the fenugreek seeds soak in water for several hours or overnight.

2. Pour off any remaining liquid, leaving a moist paste.

3. Using a wooden spoon, whip in, little by little, up to ½ cup water into the paste. Then mix in the zhug, lemon juice (JN calls for 1 tablespoon, or to taste), and the tomato (JN says to grate it, I just mash it up).

4. Adjust seasonings to taste. It should be very spicy. This can either be eaten plain with bread (I would use pita), or served with a meal like a chutney.

CHILE-HEADS DIGEST V2 #238

From Glen Hosey's Recipe Collection Program, hosey@...

Related recipes