BBQ Sauce with Palestinian Flavors:

Pomegranate Molasses, Thyme and Sumac

I am not usually a fan of BBQ sauces, they are either too sweet or too vinegary you know the kind that opens up your nostrils as you open the bottle. I usually much prefer a dry rub of spices on my meats. Ok that’s probably not the greatest way to start a post when the the title of the recipe is literally BBQ sauce but hear me out here. This sauce is incredible. I mean look at the list of ingredients, its defiantly some of my favorite pantry staples.The sauce is thick and sticky, kind of sweet but more tangy, savory and slightly complex in flavor. As I was traveling in Palestine I dreamt of this recipe and looked for inspiration. I often use Pomegranate molasses as a glaze so I knew I had to use it in the making of this sauce. And I thought tomato paste has a richer more dense tomatoes flavor than ketchup. So it was born, finally a BBQ sauce that I would love to eat. I loved it so much I used it as a dip and even slathered it on my grilled cheese sandwich.

This sauce is great on wings, ribs, chicken, toss it With pulled meats as well and you can even slather it on grilled veggies.

Ingredients

  • One small can tomato paste (not ketchup)

  • 1/2 cup pomegranate molasses

  • 3 tbls blackstrap molasses

  • 1/4 cup honey or brown sugar (less or more to your liking)

  • 1 tbsp garlic powder

  • 1 tbsp onion powder

  • 1 tbls sumac

  • Few dashes of wistchire sauce

  • 1 tbsp sea salt

  • Black Pepper

  • 1/2 tbls of Aleppo pepper or use a chili u like (optional)

  • 2 tsp smoked paprika

  • 2 tablespoons olive oil

  • 4 garlic cloves, roughly chopped

  • 2 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves about few sprigs

  • 1 tablespoon allspice berries

  • 1 bay leaf

  • 1 cinnamon stick

  • ½ cup unsweetened pomegranate juice or water to thin out the sauce (more or less depending on the thickness you like)

Steps

  1. In a medium saucepan or Dutch oven, heat the olive oil over low heat. Add garlic and sauté until softened don’t let it burn. This step is just to flavor the olive oil.

  2. Add the tomato paste, pomegranate molasses, blackstrap molassses, thyme, allspice, bay leaf, onion and garlic powder, smoked paprika, Aleppo peppers, S&P, and cinnamon stick. Stir to coat, then reduce the heat to a low simmer. Taste the sauce before you add the honey or brown sugar. Adjust this step to your liking. Once it gets combined add a few dashes of wostchire sauce.

  3. Cook for 30 minutes on low gentle heat until all the flavors come together.

  4. Discard bay leaf, all spice, and cinnamon stick. we are going to use the sauce in the oven baked BBQ drumsticks for tonight's dinner (recipe below), or store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 month, drizzle a bit of olive oil on top.