A flavorful Middle Eastern Green Chili Sauce that gives meals a burst of flavor.
Zhoug Sauce
Zhoug, pronounced Zoog, is a spicy, green chili cilantro sauce that hails from Yemen. It has become wildly popular in Israel and Middle Eastern cuisine to give dishes a huge burst of flavor. This simplified version of Zhoug is made with milder chilies, jalapeños versus hotter bird’s eye or serrano chilies.
Ingredients
- 1–3 whole jalapenos, sliced (start with one, if unsure)
- 2 fat garlic cloves
- 1 bunch cilantro, small stems ok
- ½ tsp ground cardamon (or whole, see notes)
- 1 tsp cumin
- ½ tsp kosher salt, more to taste
- 1/3 cup olive oil, more to desired consistency
- 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
- ½ tsp chili flakes (Aleppo chili is nice), more to taste (optional)
Directions
- Place all ingredients (except oil) in a food processor and pulse until it’s uniformly chopped.
- Add oil and lemon juice process into a coarse paste. For a looser version, add a bit more oil.
- Taste for salt and heat, adding more if necessary. Add chili flakes if you like.
- Store in a sealed jar in the fridge for up to a week.
- Feel free to use whole cardamon seeds, whole cumin seeds and peppercorns– toasting and grinding. Caraway seeds are a nice touch too. Jalapeños are not traditional, yet produce a very consistent and milder heat. You can swap them out for hotter chilies. Feel free to swap out the cilantro for flat-leaf parsley, or even fresh mint. You can also do a blend of all three! The cardamom is the star here, so make sure you use enough so you can taste it.