Nothing goes better with Schug (yemen chili paste) then Melawach(check out my Melawach recipe)
Schug, Yemen chili paste
I have never met or known a Yemen person before meeting my ex husband. They were different to any sephardic jew i’ve ever met. A tight nit community who love to laugh (from my experience) and have a different culinary nothing like I have known. Lucky for me there wasn’t really a lot to it. So I managed to master the few dishes in no time at all.
One of their staples is schug a chili paste, which they eat with everything and i mean EVERYTHING. I'ts spread on sandwiches, used in cooking and is served on the side of just about every dish.
Growing up in my Sephardic home, while we enjoyed flavoursome food with a touch of spice we didn’t eat chilli. But being a pleaser and wanting to be a good wife and make my husband happy, (I belonged to an era long gone by, thank god) I learnt to make Yemen food especially schug. I remember when I first tried it, I actually was surprised at how tasty it was, most Chili pastes (in my experience) are just HOT. What I love about this chilli paste is that it’s made with only three fresh, wholesome ingredients and is super easy to make and people just LOVE it, especially my sons.(my friend calls it "Green gold”).
When I first was introduced to eating schug, I remember being told that eating chilli makes/helps you lose weight.
You can guess what I did, I started eating it by the spoon full. NO, IT DID NOT make or help me lose weight it did something else instead….
So while schug is healthy making you lose weight is a myth! It does however, add flavour to boring sandwiches and enhances flavoursome food.
Please note:
If you want to make it hotter, just add more chilies and use less parsley
Ingredients
120g birds eye chilies, stem removed
1 large good quality head of garlic peeled
2 packets continental parsley, half of the stems removed
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
salt to taste
Method
In a hand held blender blend all of the above ingredients into a paste.
Transfer into a jar and it will keep in the fridge for AAAAGES
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