Grilled pepper kemia with garlic and caraway

pareve Tunisian Jewish · easy · 45 min, including 20 hands-on

Felfel mechoui: long, mild peppers grilled until blistered, peeled without rinsing, then laid in a garlic and caraway olive-oil marinade with a splash of vinegar and lemon. Serve this kemia alongside others, such as slata tounsia and cumin carrots, with bread for mopping up.

Ingredients for two

Method

1. Set the oven grill to its highest setting (250°C if adjustable), with the rack in the upper position, about 10 cm below the grill. While it heats, wash and thoroughly dry the peppers, then arrange them whole, without crowding, on a foil-lined baking tray, with the small hot chilli at one end. Once the grill is glowing red (5–8 minutes), put the tray in.
2. Grill for 10–14 minutes, turning with tongs every 4 minutes. Remove the small hot chilli as soon as its skin is blistered and blackened on all sides (5–8 minutes depending on its size; left longer, it becomes a dry, bitter shell that is impossible to peel), and immediately put in a bowl covered with a plate. Remove the mild peppers when the skins are blistered and blackened in patches and the flesh has collapsed; their thin flesh means they grill twice as quickly as a bell pepper. Immediately add them to the hot chilli in the covered bowl.
3. Leave the peppers covered with the plate for 8 minutes so the steam loosens the skins. Meanwhile, crush the garlic into a bowl with a garlic press and mix with the vinegar, lemon juice, salt, caraway and coriander, then 2 tbsp oil (20 g); reserve the final spoonful (10 g) for serving.
4. Discard the liquid released into the bowl. Peel the warm peppers with your fingers and remove the stalks and seeds, without rinsing, to preserve the grilled flavour; wear gloves when handling the hot chilli. Leave the peppers whole in a colander for 5 minutes to drain, then cut the mild peppers into long strips and finely chop the hot chilli directly into the serving bowl. Do not drain again after this: you would lose the grilled juices and the chilli heat with the water.
5. Mix the still-warm peppers with the marinade, taste and adjust the salt: the grilled flavour should come through first, then garlic, then caraway. Rest covered for at least 5 minutes, or 30 minutes if possible (or prepare a day ahead; see tips). Serve warm or cold, coated in their marinade and drizzled with the final spoonful of uncooked oil, with bread for mopping up.

On your plate

Cooking tips

The 45 minutes include preheating and serving warm after the minimum rest. The flavours really blend after 30 minutes, and the kemia is even better made a day ahead and served cold; the resting time is then extra. For a Tunis-style presentation, leave the peppers whole with their stalks, peeling and removing the seeds through a slit, then lay them on a plate and spoon over the marinade. For a simpler method, do not grill the hot chilli: remove its seeds and chop it raw into the marinade. For a mild version, replace the hot chilli with the same weight of mild pepper. Refrigerate under their oil and eat within 2 days; this garlic marinade must not be treated as a preserve that can be stored at room temperature.

Equipment : oven with a grill, baking tray and foil, tongs, bowl and a plate to cover it, colander, garlic press, food-safe gloves

Felfel mechoui, grilled peppers from the kemia of the Jews of Tunis, marinated with garlic, caraway, olive oil, vinegar and lemon.