Recipe: Pepper spice paste

This concoction is good to have around when you want to add some zip to a dish without simply reaching for a bottle of Tabasco.  It has a nice amount of heat to it, but more importantly has real depth of flavour.  We used to use this for an Isreali couscous risotto, but it would be well adaptable to stir-fries, meat sauces, chili, or pasta salads.  I've left salt out of the recipe so all the seasoning is left to the larger dish.

You will need:

2                        red bell peppers

1                        yellow bell pepper

6                        cloves garlic

50g /1.8oz         ginger

5ml / 1tsp          cumin seeds

1.25g / 1/4tsp    coriander seeds

3                        star anise

5ml / 1tsp          mild curry powder

2 pinches           ground mace

30ml / 2Tbs       grapeseed oil

Method:

 - core, seed, and roughly chop the peppers

 - take the root off the garlic and crush

 - peel the ginger and grate on a microplane (to get the fibres out) or mince

 - set the peppers, garlic and ginger in a food processor and puree smooth

 - toast the cumin, coriander and star anise in a frypan, then grind to a powder in a spice mill

 - mix the mace and curry powder with the spice mix

 - put the oil in a pan and add the spices and pepper puree

 - over medium-low heat, cook out the mix until the extra liquid is cooked off and it has a paste consistency

 - cool

 - store in the fridge and use as needed