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Ras el hanout

Ras el hanout is a traditional North African recipe for a complex and very aromatic spice blend that's a feature of the region's cookery. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic North African version of Ras el hanout.

prep time

5 minutes

cook time

5 minutes

Total Time:

10 minutes

Makes:

1 small jar

Rating:

Tags : Chilli RecipesSpice RecipesNorth-africa Recipes

Ras el hanout (راس الحانوت) is one of the 'must have' spice blends in Middle Eastern and North African (especially Moroccan) cuisine. The name itself literally means 'Head of the Shop' in Arabic and refers to the best quality spices that the merchant has. Though there is no set combination of spices that comprises ras el hanout, most versions contains over a dozen spices (and some can have as many as a hundred ingredients). The mixture given below represents an authentic Moroccan version containing a large number of spices, including some rather obscure ones such as rosebud (which can be omitted). I should also add that I was recently given a recipe for this from a 15th century North African manuscript. This is after the first conquest of Timbuktu so it includes the West African spices that are still found in Morocco today. I have slightly amended the recipe as a result.

Ingredients:

4 whole nutmegs
10 rosebuds (dried) (or 25g dried Damasc rose petals or 25g dog rose petals) [optional]
5 x 6cm lengths cinnamon sticks
12 blades of mace
1 tsp aniseed
8 pieces of dried turmeric (or 2 tbsp powdered turmeric)
4 dried cayenne chillies
8 dried piri-piri chillies
1/2 tsp lavender leaves [omit if serving to a pregnant woman]
1 tbsp white peppercorns
2 pieces dried galangal
5cm piece whole ginger cut into small cubes (or 2 tsp ground ginger)
6 cloves
4 tsp long pepper
24 allspice berries
20 green cardamom pods
4 black cardamom pods
2 tsp cubeb pepper
2 tsp grains of paradise [optional]
2 tsp cumin seeds
10 saffron threads
1 tbsp fenugreek seeds
2 tsp mustard seeds (black)

Other ingredients frequently used include the following:
Alligator Pepper
Galingale
Cassia bark
Ashanti Pepper
Belladonna berries
Ajwain (Bishop's Weed)
Orris root
Black pepper
ash keys
Mastic
Nigella seeds
Senegal pepper
Monk's Pepper
tiger nut flourwhite ginger (zedoary root)

Method:

Place all the ingredients in a dry no-stick drying pan and toast under gently heat until the spices begin to colour and/or dry out (the spices are sufficiently toasted when cumin and mustard seeds begin to 'pop').

When done, set the pan aside and allow to cool thoroughly before transferring to a coffee grinder and grind to a smooth powder. If properly toasted and the wet ingredients are dried then this spice blend will keep in an airtight container for several months. As a note, traditional Ras el Hanout only included black pepper for the most expensive variants.