Zhug

This bright green sauce from Yemen — so fresh from cilantro, so spicy from serrano chiles, so vividly aromatic — will open up a whole world in your cooking. Treat it just as you would a basil pesto or a salsa verde: Make it in small batches, in the mortar and pestle, and then spoon it with abandon over your lunch

INGREDIENTS

2 teaspoons whole black peppercorns

2 teaspoons coriander seeds

1 teaspoon cumin seeds

½ teaspoon cardamom seeds, extracted from about 10 cardamom pods

6 garlic cloves, smashed

4 serrano chiles, cut into very thin coins

1 tablespoon kosher salt

3 tightly packed cups roughly chopped cilantro leaves and stems

1 ½ tightly packed cups roughly chopped parsley leaves

½ cup extra-virgin olive oil

In a small, dry pan, toast the peppercorns, coriander seeds, cumin seeds and cardamom seeds over medium heat, shaking the pan occasionally, until slightly toasted and fragrant, about 2 minutes.

Transfer the seeds to a large mortar and pestle, and pulverize into a coarse powder.

Add the garlic and chiles, and season evenly with kosher salt. Grind the mixture together until a tight paste forms, 4 to 5 minutes.

Add about 1/3 of the cilantro and parsley, and continue to pound together into a rough paste, another 4 to 5 minutes. Repeat two more times, adding the remaining cilantro and parsley in two batches, until the mixture is a slightly pulpy paste, 4 to 5 minutes.

Drizzle in the olive oil while constantly pounding and grinding together the herb mixture until you achieve a loose, homogeneous paste. Continue to mix until it has the consistency of applesauce, about 2 minutes. Let it stand 10 minutes before serving.