Another Satisfied Customer! Chamanichur – a fenugreek and water sauce

13 years ago

Remember Bob? He’s the fellow who was looking for ‘chamanichur’. After a bit of emailing back and forth seeking more details from his memory bank, asking readers for suggestions, and researching recipes, we finally hit the jackpot!

I sent Bob the following recipe, then he began his own journey to find fenugreek in order to bring the recipe to life.

Once Bob read the recipe I sent, he replied: “Thank you so much!!! This seems to be it, as it combines chemen and water as per the name of the sauce. My grandmother used it as a sauce for liver, and we think sometimes for fish too!”

Here is the recipe I sent for Bob to try:

Chemen Recipe

From the cookbook ’Armenian Cuisine: Preserving Our Heritage’, St. John Armenian Church, Southfield, Michigan. Recipe submitted by: Nancy Kazarian and Dolly Matoian

Ingredients:

½ cup fenugreek (chemen)

½ cup paprika

4 tsp. cumin

1 tsp. cayenne (red pepper)

4 tsp. kosher salt

¼ tsp. pepper

2 large cloves garlic, crushed
7/8 to 1 cup water

Directions:

Using amount desired, combine in a large bowl, all ingredients except the garlic and water.

Add the crushed garlic according to your taste. Begin adding water, a little at a time, so that the mixture has the consistency of cake batter.

This mixture can be used in various geragoors (stews) with spinach, lamb, etc., or in Armenian hamburgers, or even in pastry dough for mezza. It can be kept in a plastic bag or bottle in the freezer, to be used as needed. The recipe may be doubled or tripled.

Bob’s final result:

“I finally got the chaimen (fenugreek) seeds in a shop in the center of town, a Pakistani friend told me where to get them, they call them “methi” in their Urdu language.

Chamanichur Paste

Chamanichur with Scrambled Eggs

Here are the pictures of the chamanichur, and also of scrambled eggs with chamanichur.
(I remembered I had had eggs with pastirma in Turkey, so I thought this would be a good combination).

The chamanichur sauce has to be added in very small quantities, as the stuff is quite strong!!!”