Pilpelchuma - Libyan Chili Paste

Spicy, garlicky pilpelchuma may be my new favorite condiment. From the Libyan Jewish tradition, it’s made with dried peppers, Aleppo pepper flakes and plenty of fresh garlic. 

Despite living right next door to Libya in Egypt, I must confess that I knew very little about its cuisine so when our Sunday FunDay host chose Libyan food as our theme this week, I had to resort to googling. 

I discovered that there is a lot of overlap in dishes from both countries, for example, hummus, shakshouka and couscous. Like Egyptians, Libyans are also fond of lamb, mutton and harissa. 

Discovering that pasta dishes were popular during my search also took me down the rabbit hole of Libyan history where I found out that Libya was an Italian colony for almost three decades starting in 1911, until the British took control during World War II. During that war the country was the center of various battles and control shifted between the allies and the axis forces several times, making it a very dangerous place for the local Jewish population. 

Jewish Libyans were persecuted, forced into labor, sent to concentration camps and killed outright. Those who could afford to emigrated. According to Yad Vashem, the World Holocaust Remembrance Center, the Jewish population fell from 25 percent to now zero in current day Libya. 

Pilpelchuma, also called filfel chuma or maseer, is a recipe from the Jewish Libyan diaspora, those who survived the war and managed to make a life elsewhere, so I decided to make this spicy paste for my post. 

Pilpelchuma  - Libyan Chili Paste

This recipe is adapted from one on Lin’s Food but a simple search turns up myriad renditions. They all seem to have dried peppers, garlic and caraway though. You'll need a small processor and a way to grind the spices into a powder but this delicious paste is really easy to make.

Ingredients - makes 1 cup or 240ml 

15 dried red chili peppers, any sort 

1 1/2 teaspoons whole caraway seeds

1 1/2  teaspoons whole cumin seeds

15 medium-sized garlic cloves

1/3 cup or 80ml olive oil plus extra for covering before storage

1 tablespoon Aleppo pepper flakes or sub regular paprika (not smoked)

3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1/2  teaspoon salt

1/2  teaspoon white sugar

Method

Cut the dried chili peppers into 2-3 pieces and put them into a small heat resistant bowl. Cover them with boiling water then cover the bowl with a saucer and leave to soak for at least 30 minutes. I got distracted by another project and mine soaked for a couple of hours. 

Toast the cumin and caraway seeds in a dry pan over a low flame. Shake the pan occasionally so they don’t burn and remove them from the stove as soon as they look a little darker and smell fragrant. 

Leave the seeds to cool for a few minutes then grind them to a fine powder in a clean coffee grinder or with a mortar and pestle. 

Use tongs to remove the soaked chili peppers from the water, leaving any seeds that fall out behind. Put them in your food processor. Peel and trim the hard ends off the cloves of garlic. 

Put the garlic in the food processor with the chili peppers and half of the olive oil. 

Process for one minute, scraping down the bowl of the processor occasionally. 

Now add in the rest of the oil, the pepper flakes (or paprika), the ground spices, lemon juice, salt and sugar.

Process till smooth. 

Store in a sterilized jar, topped with a little more olive oil, in the refrigerator. Replace the oil each time you use a little of the pipelchuma so it stays fresh. This will last a couple of weeks in the refrigerator.

Ideas to use pipelchuma: 

1. Toss with roast potatoes
2. Add a dollop to hummus, scrambled eggs or pasta
3. Thin with a little more oil and lemon juice for a spicy salad dressing
4. Stir through yogurt or sour cream to make dip or a topping for cooked fish
5. Marinate chicken, beef or lamb before grilling
6.  Stir through cooked greens, like collards, spinach or Brussels sprouts

Enjoy! 

One of the reasons I like to take part in group posts with a theme is the opportunity they often present to learn something new so many thanks to our host, Amy of Amy’s Cooking Adventures! Check out all of the Libyan recipes below. I'm looking forward to trying a few!

• Bureek Tajin from A Day in the LIfe on the Farm
• Ejja - Libyan Frittata from Mayuri’s Jikoni
• Libyan Harissa Paste from Cook with Renu
• Libyan Lamb Stew with White Beans and Spinach from Karen’s Kitchen Stories
• Macroona Imbakbaka (Libyan Minestrone) from Amy’s Cooking Adventures
• Maghreb Chicken and Vegetable Stew from Palatable Pastime
• Mbakbaka (Spicy Libyan Pasta) from Culinary Adventures with Camilla
• Pilpelchuma - Libyan Chili Paste from Food Lust People Love
• Sharba Libiya - Libyan Mint and Lamb Soup from Pandemonium Noshery
• Tajin Sfinari bil Zaytun/ Libyan Lamb Casserole with Carrots and Green Olives from Sneha’s Recipe

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