Mechouia, Tunisian Grilled Tomato Salad Recipe

Let's try this aromatic Tunisian grilled salad with sour, sweet, and a little bit spicy tastes.

Mechouia (youtube/Not a Chef)

Tunisia is known as one of the countries with beautiful tourist destinations.  Apart from that, Tunisian cuisine is no less interesting to explore.  Recently, Harissa, one of the typical Tunisian spicy pastes, has made it onto the list of UNESCO world heritage sites.

Not only that, but you can also try a unique salad from Tunisia called Mechoui.  If salads are usually made from fresh and raw ingredients, the mechouia salad ingredients are grilled first, mashed, and then served.  In general, mechouia is made from tomatoes, peppers, and onions.

If you want to try mechouia, see the full recipe below, and check it out!

Also Read: Tunisian Harissa Paste Recipe, the New UNESCO World Heritage

Ingredients:

The main ingredient:

• 5 for the tomatoes
• 2 onions
• 2 bell peppers
• 2 cloves garlic

Salad Dressing:

• 1 tsp cumin seeds 
• 1/2 tsp coriander seeds
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 150 ml olive oil 
• 1 tbsp honey
• Salt and pepper to taste

Salad toppings:

• boiled egg
• green or black olives 
• tuna flakes

Also Read: Sour and Spicy Shrimp Mango Salad Recipe

How to cook:

Step 1: Roast the vegetables
Use a pan, grill, or oven to bake all the main ingredients (tomatoes, peppers, and onions).  This roasting process lasts until the skin of all the ingredients looks brown and the meat becomes chewy.

Step 2: Make the salad dressing
Toast the cumin and coriander seeds for a few minutes until fragrant.  Mash using a pestle then mix with lemon juice, honey, olive oil, salt, and pepper to taste.  Don't forget to taste the correction.

Step 3: Peel and mash the vegetables
In a medium-sized bowl, crush the peppers, garlic, and onions.  For tomatoes, mash them in a separate container as the water content in the tomatoes will be quite troublesome for the other ingredients to mash together.

Step 4: Add salad dressing and toppings
Mix the tomatoes with the other main ingredients, add the salad dressing, and stir well.  Finally, add pieces of cooked eggs as a topping and a complement to this mechanical salad.

Mechouia (youtube/Africanchow)

You can enjoy the taste of tomatoes and other ingredients with different sensations in mechouia salad.  Because it goes through the roasting process, a distinctive aroma will be created from the mecouia salad, especially if it is grilled over charcoal.  So make sure you try the recipe above right away!

Also Read: Simple Bun Rieu, Vietnamese Crab and Tomato Noodle Soup Recipe