There has been a bunch of cilantro sitting in my refrigerator for a few days. I assumed it would end up being tossed as garbage, but then I remembered a recipe that called for cilantro, jalapeno and other things we had available and decided we’d have chicken wings in chermoula — something we used to make regularly. I’m not sure why we stopped making it, but neither of the kids remembered ever eating this — and they both loved it last night. (my daughter had it over Morningstar chicken nuggets.)
The sauce is very cilantro-y, so if you are not a fan of cilantro, then you’ll probably want to skip this one. According to Wikipedia,
“Chermoula or Charmoula is a marinade used in Algerian, Moroccan and Tunisian cooking. It is usually used to flavor fish or seafood, but it can be used on other meats or vegetables.”
I think I found this recipe in the Washington Post not long after we’d moved to the DC area. I don’t think I changed anything about it.
- 2 teaspoons cumin seeds
- 1 bunch cilantro (leaves and stems)
- 1 jalapeno pepper
- 4 cloves garlic
- 1 thick slice ginger
- ¼ cup lemon juice
- ¼ cup water
- 1 tablespoon paprika
- 2 teaspoons salt
- ½ teaspoon sugar
- ½ cup olive oil
- 1 lemon, thinly sliced
Toast the cumin seeds in a dry pan until fragrant, and add to a food processor (metal blade attached) or blender with all ingredients except olive oil and lemon slices. Blend into a paste and transfer to a mixing bowl and stir in the oil.
Marinate the fish, chicken or meat to be grilled in the most of the sauce for an hour (reserve about ¼ cup for later). Grill meat as you normally would, basting with marinade.
Heat reserved marinade with lemon slices and pour over fish, poultry or meat to serve.
Like I said — this is a great chicken wing marinade.
The recipe I have says it makes about 2 cups. That’s not entirely true — more like 1½ cups.
