MUHAMMARA: Spicy Walnut Dip

MUHAMMARA - Spicy Walnut Dip from Antep, Southeastern Turkey

Muhammara with pita bread

This recipe is from my mother-in-law Nevzat Ari, a retired art teacher. She is a great cook, but like most traditional Turkish women, most of her recipes are only in her head. Since my American & Turkish friends all like muhammara and asked for the recipe, I decided to attach myself to her right hand one day. I had to stop her just before she put "a little bit of this and a little bit of that" into the mixture, carefully measured everything and wrote it down. It was no easy task, believe me, as she tasted it she would decide to "adjust the taste". 

I hope you'll like the recipe below. It is not low calorie, but definitely tasty and healthy. If you want to reduce the oil, I suggest that you add a couple of spoons of non-fat yogurt to keep it moist.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups coarsely grated walnuts
• 2 cups bread crumbs (whole grain bread works best, but store bought ready crumbs OK too)
• 1 heaping table spoon dry mint
• 1 heaping table spoon dry oregano
• 1 heaping teaspoon cumin
• 1/2 tea spoon sugar
• 3 cloves of garlic, crushed (minced)
• 1 table spoon lemon juice
• 1 table spoon tomato paste
• 1 cup olive oil
• 3/4 cup water
• red chili pepper (to taste)
• salt (to taste)

Directions:

Mix all ingredients. May need to add more water to get desired consistency. Serve with pita bread wedges or crackers. Can be prepared a few days in advance. Will stay in the refrigerator for a couple of weeks.

Afiyet olsun! (Bon Appetit!)