When the garden gives you chillies…
This year I planted out five chilli plants that I’d grown indoors over winter, doing this, gave them a huge head start when planted out. For those who are chilli aficionados, they weren’t anything exciting, but the cayennes were self sown, dug up and brought indoors for the winter, while the Long Reds were grown from saved seed, which kind of makes it all the more special! The result… A wonderful chilli harvest – the best ever! So there was only one thing to do…
Make sweet chilli sauce, of course!
Using a blend of long red and cayenne chillies, this is a surprisingly simple sauce to make.
- 400 g long red chillies
- 100 g cayenne chillies
- 350 g red capsicum / bell peppers
- 40 g ginger peeled and finely chopped
- 15 g garlic peeled and finely chopped
- 1.5 litres white vinegar
- 1 kg sugar
- 15 g salt
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Halve half of the long red chillies, removing and discarding the stalks and seeds.
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Remove the stalks from the remaining chillies.
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Remove the stalk and seeds from the red capsicum.
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Roughly chop the chillies and red capsicum and put into the bowl of the food processor.
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Process until coarsley chopped.
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Add garlic, ginger and 250ml of the white vinegar, then process again until finely chopped.
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Tip into a large pan and add the remaining vinegar, together with the salt and sugar.
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Slowly bring to the boil, stirring until the sugar has dissolved.
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Reduce the heat and simmer, uncovered, for 35-40 minutes, until thickened.
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Pour into warm sterilised bottles and seal immediately.
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When cool, label and then store in a cool dark place.
- When working with chillies, always wash your hands before touching any part of your face, eyes, lips, etc.
When I removed the seeds from the chillies, I set them aside and have them drying ready to sow for next season and to share with family, friends and the community.
Seeds saved to sow again for next season, and to share with fellow gardeners.
I used this sauce recently when I made the Baked Duck Fish with Pumpkin, Brussel Sprouts, Fennel and Orange, Gary made the comment that this sauce should come with a warning!
Baked Duck Fish with Pumpkin, Brussel Sprouts, Fennel and Orange
Until next time
Happy gardening and bon appétit!
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