Vegan Recipes for Everyday Meals

Tunisian Tomatoes and Peppers salad recipe – (Marmuma)

In any north African cuisine, you can find a different kind of tomato salsa, usually spicy. In Morocco, for example, you  will find the Matbucha which contains mostly tomatoes and some roasted peppers and garlic. There are many varieties for this recipe, even withing the same family, most of them differ in the ratio between tomatoes and peppers, how much garlic you add, if you add water or whether or not you add tomato paste – some people even add onions to this salad. After trying different versions of this salad since childhood (for over 30 years), I find this version, that my Tunisian grandma makes the tastiest of them all. In this version, the ratio in volume for tomatoes and peppers is equal (half the volume will be tomatoes and half peppers) and no water are added. You don’t mix the salad during the cooking, so the tomato wedges and pepper pieces remain distinct.

If you make a lot of this salad and after about four days you have enough of it left, cook it with some potato wedges and water for a perfect side dish that goes well with rice or with bread (kids just love it). I make this salad almost every week for many many years and always bring this to dinners with friends and it is always a big success – the first salad that is finished.

This salad is, again, a staple salad that goes well with Couscous, its flavor is sweet and spicy with distinct tomatoes and pepper taste.

It is very simple to make, but you have to follow the steps carefully.

Ingredients:

3 big peppers, seeded and cut into a big bite size  – it is better to have peppers in different colors like red bell peppers, yellow peppers and green peppers for more complex taste.

1-2 jalapeno or any other spicy pepper, seeded and cut into a big bite size – you can make this salad not spicy at all, but I like it a little spicy.

5-10 tomatoes cut into wedges (depending on size – you want to have the volume in peppers to be about the same volume in tomatoes) – here, again, a variety of tomatoes will add a complex tomato flavor to the salad and will make it taste better.

10 whole cloves of garlic – peeled

2 TBS neutral in flavor oil – canola, safflower, sunflower seed, soy etc’

1 tsp salt

Directions:

1. Take a large pot and put it on a medium heat. Add the oil, peppers and garlic and mix.

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2. Saute the peppers and garlic for about 5 minutes. After 2 minutes you will smell the garlic. You should sauteing when you start smelling the peppers. If you pay attention to sounds as well, you will notice a beautiful cracking sound.

3. Add the tomatoes and mix well.

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4. Cover completely with a lid and cook for about one hour. It is important to check on the salad every 15 minutes or so. After 20 minutes or so, it will look like that:

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5. Do not stir! but you can tilt and shake the pot to check if there is still a lot of liquid. After about 45 minutes it will look like this:

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When there is very little thick and sweet sauce (you should definitely try it) you can turn off the stove. It is ready.

Eat it with bread, eat it with Couscous, cook it later with potatoes. This is some addictive stuff.

 

Variations:

1. While cooking, you can mix to get a wonderful salad that is more similar to a salsa or tomato sauce. it will taste equally great, but will not have the same texture.

2. Cook on a very low heat for about 3 hours. The result will be even sweeter.

Printable recipe:

5.0 from 1 reviews
Tunisian Tomatoes and Peppers salad (Marmuma)
 
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
 
It is very simple to make, but you have to follow the steps carefully. Variation: 1. While cooking, you can mix to get a wonderful salad that is more similar to a salsa or tomato sauce. it will taste equally great, but will not have the same texture. 2. Cook on a very low heat for about 3 hours. The result will be even sweeter.
Ingredients
  • 3 big peppers, seeded and cut into a big bite size - it is better to have peppers in different colors like red bell peppers, yellow peppers and green peppers for more complex taste.
  • 1-2 jalapeno or any other spicy pepper, seeded and cut into a big bite size - you can make this salad not spicy at all, but I like it a little spicy.
  • 5-10 tomatoes cut into wedges (depending on size - you want to have the volume in peppers to be about the same volume in tomatoes) - here, again, a variety of tomatoes will add a complex tomato flavor to the salad and will make it taste better.
  • 10 whole cloves of garlic - peeled
  • 2 TBS neutral in flavor oil - canola, safflower, sunflower seed, soy etc'
  • 1 tsp salt
Instructions
  1. Take a large pot and put it on a medium heat. Add the oil, peppers salt and garlic and mix.
  2. Saute the peppers and garlic for about 5 minutes. After 2 minutes you will smell the garlic. You should sauteing when you start smelling the peppers. If you pay attention to sounds as well, you will notice a beautiful cracking sound.
  3. Add the tomatoes and mix well.
  4. Cover completely with a lid and cook for about one hour. It is important to check on the salad every 15 minutes or so.
  5. Do not stir! but you can tilt and shake the pot to check if there is still a lot of liquid. When there is very little thick and sweet sauce (you should definitely try it) you can turn off the stove. It is ready.
  6. Eat it with bread, eat it with Couscous, cook it later with potatoes. This is some addictive stuff.

 

4 Comments

  1. MammaQuail

    Wonderful, Guy! Thanks for posting this.
    BTW, how do I subscribe to your blog? I don’t see any ‘follow’ option.

  2. Marsha

    Thank you for this recipe. I grew up with this salad. My mother made it for my Tunisian dad. I was trying to find a recipe online for it but didn’t know how to spell the name. Do you have other Tunisian recipes?

    • Guy Mugrabi

      Hi Marsha,

      You can find some North African Recipes that I posted in the past here:
      http://everydayvegancooking.com/north-african-dishes

      I cook a lot more of these dishes. Is there any specific one that you are interested to see?

      Guy

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