Moroccan Ras el Hanout Recipe - The
Ideal Mix For the Adventurous Cook!

This is my ras el hanout recipe which is a very complex Moroccan blend used throughout North Africa. Translated from Arabic the term means "head of the shop" or "top of the shop". There are no standard ingredients that go into this recipe; it's completely the personal choice of the cook!

Ingredients: (makes about 10 tablespoons)

2 tbsp coriander seeds
1 tbsp mustard seeds
1 tbsp cumin seed
1 tbsp allspice berries
1 tbsp black peppercorns
1 tbsp smoked paprika
2 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp dried lavender
1 tsp grated nutmeg
1 tsp dried rose petals
1 tsp galangal powder
1 tsp whole cubebs
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp caraway seeds
Seeds from 5 green cardamom pods
3 inches cinnamon stick
3-4 blades of mace
8-10 whole cloves
20-30 curry leaves

tbsp = tablespoon
tsp = teaspoon

Directions:

Break up the mace and cinnamon

Grind these with the cloves, cubebs, peppercorns, allspice, caraway, cumin, coriander, cardamom and mustard seeds

Add to a bowl

Stir in the paprika, turmeric, nutmeg, galangal and garlic powders

Crumble in the lavender, rose petals and curry leaves

Combine thoroughly

Store your ras el hanout recipe in an airtight jar out of direct sunlight. Use within 3 months.

Note: To go one step further with the flavours, you can lightly toast the whole spices prior to grinding. See the grinding spices page for step-by-step info on this.

A Little Ras el Hanout Info

Moroccan Ras el Hanout

This blend is excellent when used with grains like bulghur wheat, couscous and rice.

It works particularly well as a meat rub and complements the more robust recipes like lamb, casseroles, stews and game dishes. Above is my preferred blend, but feel free to experiment with your own!

Some of the ingredients are sometimes not available, but you can easily substitute or omit them completely. Some substitutes I often use are ginger for galangal and black peppercorns for the cubebs.