Chermoula Marinade Recipe - Moroccan Version
Chermoula is Moroccan blend of herbs and spices which can be used both as a marinade and as a condiment to season salads, stews, tagines and grilled foods. It can be brushed over meat, offal, chicken, fish, and vegetables or added as a flavor enhancer to fillings for stuffed fish, stuffed breads, and stuffed poultry, ground and roasted meat of all sorts.The yield and serving of this recipe is approximate considering the difference between manual and mechanical process of chopping or grinding. With these quantities and with a pasty but coarse and runny texture, I usually have the equivalent of a bonne maman jar nearly full.
Yield: 1 cup
Calories: 634kcal
Ingredients
- 3 cups fresh coriander (cilantro), roughly chopped,
- 1 cup fresh flat leaf parsley, roughly chopped, leaves only
- 6 to 8 cloves garlic, peeled and roughly chopped
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp ground cumin
- 1 tbsp sweet paprika, powder or paste
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tbsp water optional not needed if using a pestle and mortar
Optional ingredients depending on recipes
- 1 tbsp tomato paste (double it for a red chermoula)
- 5 tbsp lemon juice, freshly squeezed
- 1 tsp harissa paste, or to taste
- 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- 1 tsp ground turmeric (for a yellow chermoula)
- 1 small preserved lemon, seeds removed (for a lemony chermoula)
Instructions
- Roughly chop the herbs and crush the garlic, then follow one of the methods below.
Using a Food Processor
- Place the herbs and the rest of the ingredients in the blend. Give a few pulses until you are satisfied with the texture. To help with blending, you can thin the mixture with a few tablespoons of olive oil, water or a mix of the two.
Using a Mortar and Pestle (Mehraz)
- Start by pounding garlic and salt. Add the chopped herbs and spices in batches and pound until you are happy with the texture. Note: It is important to chop the herbs properly before crushing them with the pestle, otherwise you will end up with a stringy chermoula.
- Use immediately or store in a jam jar or similar sealed container. If the paste is quite thick, you could top it off with olive oil. Keep in the fridge for up to a week.
Notes
- Special note about lemon juice: For cold dishes such as salads, wait until cooked vegetables have cooled before adding more lemon juice or vinegar and a bit of extra virgin olive oil. This little touch brings them to a whole new level.
- Some recipes will require a chermoula without parsley and others will require a chermoula without lemon or vinegar (such as in the Moroccan kefta recipe).
- For a hot chermoula, add more cayenne (soudaniya) and harissa (or a chili paste) to taste.
- A Northern variation of chermoula includes thyme and black pepper and a good portion of flat leaf parsley.
- You could make a red chermoula by adding a roasted and peeled red pepper into the blend.
Calories: 634kcal | Carbohydrates: 34g | Protein: 7g | Fat: 57g | Saturated Fat: 8g | Sodium: 2596mg | Potassium: 1293mg | Fiber: 11g | Sugar: 9g | Vitamin A: 12060IU | Vitamin C: 182.6mg | Calcium: 215mg | Iron: 12.7mg
Nutrition information is provided as a courtesy and is only an estimate obtained from online calculators. Optional ingredients may not be included in the nutritional information.
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