Recipe: Ras el Hanout à la RaïnaRaï
Anyone who wants to eat delicious Middle Eastern food in Amsterdam simply has to visit restaurant RaïnaRaï. Wonderful soups, deliciously seasoned (vegetable) dishes—owner Laurent Khellout knows exactly how it’s done. But you can also bring a little RaïnaRaï into your home with the book Ras El Khellout.
Laurent: ‘Ras el khellout is a combination of ras el hanout and my surname, Khellout. Ras el hanout is a spice blend from North Africa. It literally means ‘head of the shop’ and refers to the best a spice merchant has to offer. There is no fixed recipe: every shop, restaurant or family has its own blend. My version of ras el hanout, the ras el khellout base blend, contains cumin, caraway, coriander, chili, ginger, cinnamon, fennel and turmeric. The blend is available ready-made at various shops and at my restaurant RaïnaRaï, but of course you can also make it yourself.’
Preparation
Mix the ground spices to taste, in order of importance: ground cumin, ground caraway, ground coriander, chili powder, ground ginger, ground cinnamon, ground fennel and ground turmeric.
For a more intense flavor, use cumin seeds, caraway seeds, coriander seeds, whole chili peppers, fresh ginger, cinnamon sticks, fennel seeds or fresh turmeric.
Briefly toast the seeds in a dry skillet until their aromas are released, then grind everything finely in a food processor or mortar and pestle.
Title: Ras El Khellout
Author: Laurent Khellout
Price: €32.00
Publisher: Fontaine Uitgevers
Read also:
