Zhoug with a proper temper
The Yemeni green sauce that bites back. The cardamom is the tell.
At a Glance
Story
Zhoug is a Yemeni sauce that came to Israel with Yemenite Jews and turned into a national habit, spooned onto everything from falafel to eggs. Plenty of cuisines have a green chili and herb sauce, but the cardamom and cumin are what mark this one as Yemeni rather than just hot, a warm, almost floral note under all that fire. It is meant to be spicy, so taste before you commit to the third chili.
Ingredients
- 2 cups cilantroroughly chopped (leaves and tender stems, packed)
- 3 green chilieschopped (serrano or jalapeño, seeds out for less heat)
- 4 cloves garlic
- ½ tsp ground cardamom
- ½ tsp ground cumin
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- ½ cup extra-virgin olive oil
- salt
Method
A small jar of green fury for when a dish needs waking up. Spicy by design, so scale the chilies to your nerve.
- Pulse the cilantro, chilies and garlic in a food processor to a coarse paste, or pound them in a mortar and chop the rest by hand, this is a sauce with texture, not a smooth purée.
- Stir in the cardamom, cumin, lemon juice and a good pinch of salt, then work in the olive oil until it comes together loose and glossy. The ground cardamom is the whole personality here, do not skip it or you have just made a lesser hot sauce.
- Let it sit a few minutes for the heat and the spice to marry. A spoonful lifts grilled chicken, roast vegetables, rice, soup or a fried egg. It keeps a week in the fridge under a film of oil.
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