Hummus and Baba Ganoush are the most commonly prepared and relished Middle Eastern dips. Muhammara though lesser known is a classic dip found in Levantine and Turkish cuisines. It is infact an ancient traditional dish which is being revived and is gaining popularity across the world.Muhammara in Arabic means ‘reddened’. This rust-red dip with its tangy,nutty, a little sweet and a little hot flavors can be enjoyed by vegetarians as well as the meat eaters. Dip your veggies, pita chips, crackers, breads, grilled meats in this delicious, healthy and no guilt dish or simply add it to your meze platter and wow your family and friends. You can use it as a spread on your bread as well.
Middle Eastern cuisine is mostly healthy and Muhammara is no exception. It is a blend of beautiful ingredients and flavours which makes it deliciously enticing. Walnuts, red bell peppers, pomegranate molasses, olive oil, bread crumbs and lemon juice make their way into this amazing combination.If we want to match the Syrian traditional way of preparing Muhammara, the ingredients should be crushed and blended in a mortar with a pestle,which gives a lovely texture to the dish.But if you are short of time or patience, you can blend it in a food processor as well. The taste is pretty much the same but you end up losing that alluring texture.It can be eaten immediately or stored in the fridge. The flavour enhances after a day in the fridge.
Muhammara
Ingredients:
- 2 red bell peppers
- 3/4 cup toasted walnuts
- 3 slices whole wheat bread
- juice of 1 lemon
- 1 tbsp. red chilli flakes (Alepo peppers if possible)
- 1 tbsp. pomegranate molasses
- 1 clove garlic
- 1 ½ tsp. cumin seed powder
- salt to taste
- ¼ cup olive oil for blending
For drizzling on top
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 1 pinch sumac (optional)
- 1 tsp. sesame seeds
- 1 tbsp. chopped walnuts
Method:
- Heat the oven to 200º C. Put the peppers on a tray and roast for 30-35 minutes, turning once midway, till the skin is blackened. Immediately transfer them to a bowl and tightly seal with plastic wrap. In about 15 minutes,the skin of the peppers wuld have loosened up.Peel and discard the skin and seeds. Mash the flesh with a fork and set aside.
- Remove the crusts of the bread and toast them in a bread toaster. Once cooled, make bread crumbs from them either using a rolling pin or in a food processor.
- Put the mashed peppers,bread crumbs and all the ingredients except the olive oil in a mortar and crush with a pestle. You can also pulse them in a food processor till coarsely blended.
- Stream in ¼ cup of olive oil all through the blending process.
- Transfer the blend into a serving bowl. Make a shallow well in the middle with the back of a spoon. Drizzle the remaining olive oil over it.
- Sprinkle sesame seeds,sumac and walnuts.
- Serve immediately or leave in fridge for a day for improved flavour.
- But remember not to serve it chilled. It should be at room temperature.
Aromas and Flavors from my Kitchen 
Oh my this sounds amazing!!!!
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Thank you Lynz 🙂
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I love this and want to make it! Thanks for posting!
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I love muhammara, I haven’t made it for a while, I must rectify that! Thank you for reminding me x
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It’s my pleasure to write a vegetarian post Elaine!! This one is dedicated to you 🙂
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How lovely, thank you xxx
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Sounds delicious!
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Thank you Gloria☺
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Looks amazing!!
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Thanks Lauren ☺
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Superb….. My weekend project. 🙂
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Thanks Aruna👍☺Would love to know how you liked it.
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This sounds yummy…
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Thank you dear Vidhya ☺
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Sounds different and interesting 🙂
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And tasty too dear. Thank you so much ☺
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Ana, you read my mind! Just this week, I saw Muhammara at a local store and thought to myself that I should make this at home. Now that I have your wonderful recipe, I will surely make it!
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Wow! Thats awesome. And I am sure you will come up with an interesting fusion recipe with it Sandhya 👍☺
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Lovely!! I just made some and substituted the molasses with honey…all though I must admit the Pomegranate Molasses gives a brilliant colour to Muhammad…This is a great recipe:))
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Thank you dear! !! I am so glad you liked it. Honey is a good substitute for molasses though there is that tartness in the latter.
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Delicious! lovely clicks 🙂
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Thank you Freda ☺ 👍
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Looks really tasty and also very tempting, Ana! 🙂
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Thank you Linda! I experimented and found some delicious ways to use Muhammara. It is indeed a wonderful dip.
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wow.. thanks for something new!
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Thank you Trupti ☺👍
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I love the middle eastern dips and this one is my favourite ! It has been a while since I made it and I’m going shopping to get the red bell peppers. Checking out the pomegranate molasses recipe too!
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Thank you Uma for stopping by 👍☺
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OOOOOooh my goodness, my guinness, that looks good enough to eat!!!!! Soon too. xxx
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Haha 😀 Trust you to put a smile on my face.
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Yay!!!!
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I haven’t had Muhammara before. It looks amazing!
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You must try it then. It is very versatile. I will be posting some awesome recipes with Muhammara shortly. Please do try it. You will love it ☺
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Looking forward to the recipes! I will definitely try it!
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I sometimes get bored with humous and this looks like a very interesting alternative. Thank you, I’ve pinned it.
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Muhammara will definitely prove to be a delicious alternative to Hummus Liz!! I am sure you will love it. Thank you ☺
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This looks v. delicious ❤ As usual mouth watering, yum 🙂 xx
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Thank you dear ☺
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Such a simple recipe! The dip looks so yuummy. Thanks for sharing 🙂
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Thank you dear Mary for liking it ☺
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I am not at all familiar with this dish but, dang, it sure sounds good. It would be a very welcome change from the current dips of the party circuit. Thanks for sharing.
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Thank you so much. It has all the right qualifications to enter the party circuit. Traditional but glamorous, Simple but flavorful, Sweet with a bit of tang….and very versatile!! Please do try it.
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Love the look and sound of this, skd! I must look into pomegranate molasses immediately. 😛
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Thanks Nancy ☺ It is a delicious combination of flavors
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Just by looking at it is giving me pleasure…imagine how delightful it would be to eat 🙂
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Thank you so much!! It is a versatile delicious dip which can go well with most cuisines.
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A very special tasty delicious looking dip! And that smeared onto your lovely aubergine rolls,..yes, please! MMM!
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Thank you so much ☺ Please do try it now that you already nailed the molasses. Your kind comments are hugely motivating 💕👍
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I’m all for anything with eggplants and add this amazing sauce to it oh yum! I can just taste the delicious flavor combo. Will definitely try this. We use pomegranate molasses in stew dishes but this would be a new use for it. Thanks for sharing :). Another use for sumac too I should add.
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Thank you so much. i just added another eggplant post. i hope you like that too. i am a fan of your blog and love all the amazing recipes you put up. thanks a lot for sharing 🙂
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Love this recipe as the combination of the ingredients looks very interesting. I will give it a go.😊
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Thank you so much for stopping by and for liking the posts. Muhammara is a very delectable and versatile spread besides being healthy. I am sure you will like it. Please do try it 👍☺
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I definitely will.😉
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