(Faux) Tajine and Harissa

Along with Isa Chandra Moskowitz's risotto, I made some faux tajine and faux harissa. Tajine is a North African vegetable dish, steamed in a tajine pot without any water. The pot intensifies the wonderful natural flavor and sweetness of the vegetables. Harissa is a red spice paste usually made of chili pepper, garlic, olive oil, corriander, caraway, cumin and so on. Apparently, harissa is also really common in France and sold in jars, which would make a sweet souvenir.

Faux Harissa

Ingredients
3g (1 teaspoon) hijiki
half medium carrot, thinly sliced
100ml (little less than1/2 cup) water

1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon chili pepper
1/4 clove garlic

Directions
In a small saucepan, put the hijiki, carrot and water together and bring to boil.
Cover with a lid to simmer over medium heat for about 5 minutes.
Transfer it to a blender, add 1 tablespoon of the extract liquid left in the saucepan, salt, olive oil, chili pepper, garlic and mix until smooth.
Serve with tajine, salad, rice or sandwiches.

Faux Tajine

Ingredients (Serves 2)
1/2 medium carrot, thinly sliced
2 medium potatoes, peeled and quartered
1 medium onion, peeled and wedged
30g fresh or frozen pumpkin, diced into bite size squares
2/3 teaspoon salt
1/4 clove garlic, minced

200ml (0.8 cup) water

50cc tomato juice
2 shakes cumin
1 pinch curry powder

Directions
Put the vegetables in a pot, stir and add water to simmer over a low heat.
Add tomato juice, cumin and curry powder and simmer until most of the liquid is gone.

Serve with harissa.

I served these to my family, and they all loved it! The taste of harissa is pretty indescribable but so amazingly good! You would never think it'd taste like this. Even though I've never tasted or tried making a real harissa, which I do want to, I'll make this alternative harissa again. It's soft like whipped cream thanks to the texture of carrot and olive oil, kinda spicy and garlicy and flavorful. I also tried using it as a salad dressing or spreading it in my sandwich and it tasted great! It's a versatile sauce that you can put pretty much anywhere. I wanna try it with my couscous next time. Tajine is one of my favorite dishes, because I love love love vegetables. Tajine pretty much explains why vegetables are awesome. I've always wanted a tajine pot, but I'm not allowed to get one because my mom told me there was no space to put it in. She's right. And now I can make it without a tajine! I'd say a real tajine can't be beaten, but this is also a hearty good dish to satisfy my tummy!