Harous

• Recipe by Abderrazak Haouari

This southern Tunisian sauce has a deep, husky red pepper flavor that's excellent with soups, meat, poultry, fish and couscous dishes.

Ingredients

1. 1 medium onion, very thinly sliced
2. Pinch of turmeric
3. 2 tablespoons kosher salt
4. 4 ancho chiles, stemmed and seeded
5. 3 dried chipotle chiles, stemmed and seeded
6. 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
7. 1/2 teaspoon ground caraway seeds
8. 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
9. Pinch of cinnamon
10. 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

Directions

1. In a shallow bowl, toss the onion slices with the turmeric and salt. Cover the onion with plastic wrap and let stand overnight at room temperature.
2. Meanwhile, heat a cast-iron skillet until hot to the touch. Add the anchos and chipotles and toast over moderate heat, pressing lightly with a spatula until the chiles are very pliable and fragrant, about 1 minute. Transfer the chiles to a work surface and let cool completely, then tear them into 1-inch pieces. In a spice grinder, coarsely grind the chiles.
3. Drain the onion slices in a strainer, pressing hard to extract as much liquid as possible. Transfer the onions to a food processor and pulse until pureed. Add the ground chiles, coriander, caraway, pepper and cinnamon and process to a paste. With the machine on, gradually add the olive oil and puree until fairly smooth.

Make Ahead

The harous can be refrigerated for up to 6 months.