North African Ras El Hanout Spice Mix

"A "must" for nearly all Tagines, Couscous & North African recipes; I can always obtain it here in France but, as I list this in so many of my recipes I thought I would devise a "copycat" or cheat's spice mix which you can make up & have handy! It will be almost impossible to replicate this spice exactly as the orginal can contain up to 50 spices & very exotic ones such as rose petals, lavender, nigella & grains of paradise, but I have tried to incorporoate all the Traditional elements of this exotic mix, with spices that will be easily & readily available in most countries! Store it in an airtight & preferably dark tin/container, and in a cool & dry place; depending on the freshness of the spices you have used & your storage conditions, this should last for up to 6 months. You can buy this as Yellow or Red Ras-el-Hanout, I have made up the yellow version - it's the one I mainly use in my cooking! Please note - this is NOT a hot spice mix - but an aromatic & very fragrant one! If you want to "perk" it up a bit, add more cayenne pepper. I have added optional ingredients - spices which may be difficult to obtain, but if you have them, add them!! Would make a great gift too! Recipes that use Ras-el-Hanout are: Recipe #137530 Recipe #191946 and Recipe #176181"
 
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photo by Sharon123 photo by Sharon123
photo by Sharon123
photo by Debbie R. photo by Debbie R.
photo by Annacia photo by Annacia
photo by Annacia photo by Annacia
photo by French Tart photo by French Tart
Ready In:
10mins
Ingredients:
18
Yields:
1 Jar
Serves:
6-8
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ingredients

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directions

  • Mix all the spice together in a large bowl and store them in an airtight container.
  • Store in a cool and dry place.
  • Depending on the freshness of the spices used & the storage conditions, this spice mix should last for up to 6 months.
  • Use in all Moroccan & North African dishes such as Tagines & Couscous; I also use this spice in preserving - recipes to be posted!
  • N.B. The cornflour acts as a stabiliser for this spice mix.

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Reviews

  1. I expected this to be the hottest of the three spice mixes I tried today. It wasn't. It was quite spicey but still very flavorful. I rubbed it on chicken that was then grilled outside. Made for ZWT #6 - 2010.
     
  2. I use this all the time and it is excellent. I have it in an unmarked container on my spice rack and people always ask to smell it--leading most often to a unison "wow". Seriously, just try making this spice mixture sometime. I have no doubt your experience will mirror mine; you'll be looking for dishes to use this in constantly.
     
  3. I recently was diagnosed with kidney failure and was searching for low salt recipes and found this. I just substituted garlic powder for the garlic salt and ground celery seed for the celery salt. I have made beef stew twice and a chicken stir fry and take the leftovers to work and it is delicious (in fact twice when I went to get the second container of leftovers and my wife had already eaten it on me!). Thank you so much.
     
  4. This is WONDERFUL! I had everything on-hand to mix this up, and used the optional saffron. I used this in recipe#387395 in place of the baharat spice. Thanks for posting, I'll be using this for a variety to things in the future. Made for ZWT6 - NA*ME Region and the Queens of Quisine!
     
  5. What a lovely mix of smells and tastes! I scaled the recipe down a bit and added the rose petals(I have a hillside overflowing with wild roses right now). I made this for the Zaar World Tour Kitchen Gadget Challenge for the Looney Spoon Phoodies! Thanks!
     
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Tweaks

  1. I recently was diagnosed with kidney failure and was searching for low salt recipes and found this. I just substituted garlic powder for the garlic salt and ground celery seed for the celery salt. I have made beef stew twice and a chicken stir fry and take the leftovers to work and it is delicious (in fact twice when I went to get the second container of leftovers and my wife had already eaten it on me!). Thank you so much.
     

RECIPE SUBMITTED BY

<p><strong><span>The sunflowers in the field behind my house in SW France:</span></strong></p> <p><img title=Sunflowers src=http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r271/copperhorse58/DSCN8221.jpg alt=Sunflowers width=640 height=480 /><br /><strong><span><br /><br />I am British (English-Scottish), but I was born in South Africa and have lived all over the world, including Hong Kong, Germany, Cyprus, USA &amp; Singapore. I have also been very fortunate to have travelled extensively over the years.........I still have wanderlust! <br /><br />I used to be an English Literature &amp; Art History teacher &amp; lecturer; before that, I trained and worked as a Graphic Designer for many years. I now live in France with my husband &amp; my daughter who has just started university in September 2006. We also have one very chatty Burmese cat Willow, who allows us to live with her here! (I used to have three cats, I recently lost Monty, a beautiful seal point Siamese and before that, Rama, who was a debonair blue point Siamese cat - I would love to have another Siamese cat or cats in the future!)</span></strong></p> <p><em><strong><span>This is my Burmese Cat, Willow, sunning herself on the log pile in the kitchen garden:</span></strong></em></p> <p><strong><img title=My src=http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r271/copperhorse58/ABaconButtyandSundryFoodPhotos34.jpg alt=My width=640 height=480 /></strong></p> <p><strong><span>Here is my lovely Monty, a seal point Siamese, and Willow, sitting&nbsp;in the kitchen garden last year, and a few months before Monty died; he was 18yrs old:</span></strong></p> <p><img title=Monty src=http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r271/copperhorse58/AbsolutelySinfulStickyToffeePudding.jpg alt=Monty width=640 height=480 />My</p> <p><strong><span>This is my wonderful old boy, Rama, a blue-point Siamese, who died when he was 20yrs old - excuse the old and much sellotaped photo:</span></strong></p> <p><img title=Rama src=http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r271/copperhorse58/Rama1stOctober2004164.jpg alt=Rama width=517 height=639 /></p> <p><strong><span>My favourite pastimes are: reading, writing, painting &amp; drawing, photography, gardening, anything creative, walking, travelling, dining out and of course COOKING! I love all types of cuisine, but especially Traditional British - and NO it is NOT all bad!! I particularly love food associated with the changing seasons plus traditional feasts &amp; festivals, as well as Slow Cooking. I also enjoy French &amp; North African cuisine, come to think of it, there isn't much I don't like! <br /><br />My husband &amp; I run a Chambres D'Hotes, (Bed and Breakfast) called Auberge de la Fontaine here in beautiful South West France; we specialise in Gourmet Food &amp; Wine Breaks, French Antiques &amp; Restoration courses, French Language courses and French Cookery classes. Our home is completely furnished with Antique French furniture that we have rescued &amp; restored ourselves. Our charming village has one of the oldest Churches in the region &amp; it is famous for its connection with the St.Jacques de Compostella Pilgrimage route, as well as being within the Cognac &amp; Bordeaux wine growing area. <br /><br />We have a wonderful garden where we grow ALL of our own herbs and most of our fruit and vegetables. I specialise in rare, unusual and old-fashioned herbs, which I grow in our walled garden. As well as growing herbs, I also grow many different varieties of lavender, old-fashioned shrub roses and heirloom fruit and vegetables. <br /><br />We have lived overseas for many, many years now - but we both still love going home to Northern England, near Scarborough &amp; York, to visit our family &amp; friends. We also love indulging in dining out when we are there, in a wide variety of EXCELLENT Gastro-Pubs that we have in North Yorkshire; and popping in to have a Pint of REAL ENGLISH ALE in our local pub is a always a must!! <br /></span></strong></p> <p><br /><a href=http://photobucket.com/images/merci%20beaucoup target=_blank><img src=http://i420.photobucket.com/albums/pp287/vi-vie15/Merci/hb09izl7.gif border=0 alt=merci /></a> <br /><br /><strong><span>A Message to all who make and review my recipes! I try very hard to reply to EACH and EVERYONE of you who kindly makes, reviews and photographs my recipes! However, sometimes I am so busy in the B and B, and with other things, that I may be late in sending a personal thank you message, and sometimes I forget completely! I would just like to thank you ALL in advance, and just in case I am late or forgetful in sending a personal thanks. I am always very humbled by anyone who chooses to make one of my recipes, and I love reading the reviews and seeing the beautiful photos that are posted. Merci beaucoup encore! <br /><br />A note about my recipes. All of my posted recipes, whether they be my own concoctions or adaptations from a book or a famous chef, have been tried and tested at least once, by ME! I try to make sure that I am the guinea pig and not you! However, if there is anything you would like ask me about one of my recipes, or a query that I may be able to help you with, please do write and I will try to answer your question as soon as possible. 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