Haraimi

Ingredients

Fish

• 800 gfirm fish steaks, on the bone
• grouper, sea bream or hake
• juice of 1 lemon
• 2 teaspoonssalt

Sauce

• 8garlic cloves, crushed
• 3 tablespoonstomato paste
• 2 tablespoonsground cumin
• 1 tablespoonsweet paprika
• 1to 3 teaspoons chilli powder
• 1 teaspooncaraway seed, ground
• 1 teaspoonground coriander
• 6 tablespoonsolive oil
• about 400 ml water
• salt to taste

To finish

• juice of 1 lemon
• a handful of coriander, chopped
• 1fresh chilli, sliced, optional

To serve

• plenty of bread
• or plain couscous
• lemon wedges

Directions

1. Rinse the fish steaks under cold water. Rub them with lemon juice and salt. Let them sit for about fifteen minutes. Rinse the lemon off before they go in. Heat the olive oil in a wide shallow pan.
2. Use a pan the fish will fit into in one layer. Add the crushed garlic to the warm oil. Cook the garlic gently for one minute only. It should soften and smell strong.
3. Take the pan off the heat if it is too hot. Add all the ground spices to the oil. Stir them into the oil off the heat. Return it to a low heat for thirty seconds. Ground spices burn in hot oil within seconds.
4. Stir the tomato paste into the spiced oil. Fry it gently for about two minutes. That takes the raw edge off the paste. Add the water gradually while stirring. Season the whole sauce well with salt. Let the sauce simmer for about ten minutes. It should thicken and darken as it goes.
5. Taste it and adjust the salt and the chilli. It should taste strong and slightly too intense. Lay the fish steaks into the sauce. Set them in a single layer without crowding. Spoon sauce over the top of each piece. Do not stir the pan after this point.
6. Cover the pan and simmer very gently. Give the fish about ten minutes. Shake the pan rather than stirring it. Spoon sauce over the fish once halfway. Judging when it is done is straightforward. Oil should sit visibly at the surface. Finishing it is done off the heat entirely.
7. Squeeze the second lemon over the pan. Scatter the chopped coriander over it. Add sliced fresh chilli if you want more heat. Let it stand covered for five minutes. Serving it is done warm or at room temperature. Set the pan or a platter on the table. Serve plenty of bread for the sauce. It keeps two days refrigerated.

Technique

• Libya had an ancient Jewish community numbering around thirty-eight thousand in nineteen forty-eight; most left between then and the early fifties, with further departures after riots in nineteen sixty-seven, and by about nineteen seventy almost none remained. The community took its cooking with it, and chraime is now a Shabbat and holiday staple in Israel; the dish is genuinely shared rather than belonging to one group.
• Ground spices burn in hot oil within seconds and burnt spice cannot be rescued, so add them off the heat to bloom them safely, and never let the garlic brown or the whole sauce turns bitter.
• Ground caraway appears in many Libyan versions and is not the same as cumin despite the two seeds looking similar; caraway is sharper and more aniseed-like.

Substitutions

• Any firm fish on the bone works, including grouper, sea bream and hake.
• The caraway can be left out where it is hard to find.

Variations

• Some households make it genuinely fiery and others warm rather than hot.
• Chraime in Israel is the same dish under the Hebrew spelling.
• It is often made a day ahead and eaten cool.

History

The name comes from harr, hot; the chili-tomato fish braise is shared by Libyan Muslims and Libyan Jews, who took it to Israel as chraime.

Frequently asked questions

What is Haraimi?

Haraimi is a main from Libya: firm fish steaks braised in hot chili-cumin tomato sauce. The name comes from harr, hot; the chili-tomato fish braise is shared by Libyan Muslims and Libyan Jews, who took it to Israel as chraime.

How long does Haraimi take to make?

Haraimi takes 20 minutes of preparation and 35 minutes of cooking. The recipe makes serves 4. It is rated easy to make.

What can I substitute in Haraimi?

Yes, within limits. Any firm fish on the bone works, including grouper, sea bream and hake. The caraway can be left out where it is hard to find.

What is the most important thing to get right in Haraimi?

Stir the tomato paste into the spiced oil. Fry it gently for about two minutes. That takes the raw edge off the paste. Add the water gradually while stirring. Season the whole sauce well with salt. Let the sauce simmer for about ten minutes. It should thicken and darken as it goes.