Zhug – The Recipe (Yemenite Green Hot Sauce with Chili Peppers, Herbs and Oil)

Zhug is a spicy green hot sauce from Yemen made with chili peppers, fresh green herbs and lots of aromatic seasoning. Here is the recipe. Great as a finishing sauce or a condiment.

Ingredients

• 1 teaspoon ground black peppercorns

• ½ teaspoon cumin seeds

• ½ teaspoon coriander seeds

• ½ teaspoon cardamom seeds

• 1 cup loosely fermented cilantro

• 1 cup loosely packed parsley

• 5-6 serrano peppers chopped

• 4-5 jalapeno peppers chopped

• 4 cloves garlic crushed

• Juice from 1 lemon about 2-3 tablespoons

• ½ cup avocado oil

Instructions

1 Grind the peppercorns, cumin seeds, coriander seeds and cardamom seeds in a mortar and pestal into a coarse powder. Alternatively, start with powdered versions of these ingredients. Add them to a food processor along with the salt.

2 Add the remaining ingredients except for the olive oil to the food processor and pulse until the ingredients are chunky but combined.

3 Drizzle in the avocado oil and pulse/process until the oil is emulsified and the remaining sauce is thick and chunky.

4 Adjust for salt and use as needed.

Recipe Notes

Makes about 1.5 cups. 

Heat Level: Medium-Hot, because of the use of jalapeño and serrano peppers. Store your zhug in an airtight container in the refrigerator. It will keep a couple weeks easily.