Prolific chilli crop - what to do?

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figbat

Slippery scientist
I bought a small chilli pepper plant in the summer, threw it in a pot and left it outside. It went mad and has been covered in chillis; I brought the plant inside a couple of weeks ago to help them ripen and they just keep on coming. So far I have around 20 harvested with another 30 to come. No idea of the variety but I can report that I thinly sliced a small one to garnish a bowl of pho and it nearly blew my head off.

Nobody in my house likes spicy food, somuch as I’d love to cook up some chilli con carne, curries and so on I’ll be the only one eating them and since we tend to eat the same meal together, this doesn’t really work for us.

I wondered about things like a chilli sauce or chutney, which I could use as I needed. Any recipes or other ideas? I am freezing most of the fruits as they ripen to red although I have dried a few.

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straas

Matt
Location
Manchester
They look like haberno or scotch bonnet but I'm no expert.

Think I'd either slice & pickle or look up recipes to make a hot sauce.

If you keep some in the freezer you can grate them over dishes as needed.
 
Location
London
looks great - where did you get them - what variety - must get back to making batches of chilli con carne in the slow cooker - great for making a big batch and freezing - great fast tasty meal.
 

CanucksTraveller

Macho Business Donkey Wrestler
Location
Hertfordshire
Type wise they're related to Birds Eye chiilies, just smaller. They were a hybrid created as more of an ornamental plant for indoors but they taste good and they're pretty hot. I've had these before, I dried mine and pulverised them to make some very fiery chilli flakes. You'll only get a few tablespoons of chilli flakes from say, 40 chillies, but then you only need a pinch when cooking with the flakes.

They're too small to be doing much in terms of chutneys etc, once cooked down you'll have about a couple of tablespoons full of product, so not worth the effort. I use the big red finger chillies to make chutneys (Apache F1 variety), but they're the length of your hand and even using about 30-40 of them with loads of onions they cook right down, and you end up with 2 small jars.
 

bitsandbobs

Über Member
Hot sauce! Makes a big difference if you ferment them first.


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uL8UJPQ_zoU&t=229s
 

Bazzer

Setting the controls for the heart of the sun.
A couple of years or so ago we had a large crop of chillis. Chopped them as normal and then into the freezer. Used as and when required.
I don't know if it was coincidental, but the chillis we froze seemed to have more a kick than the fresh ones.
 

johnblack

Über Member
Dry them.

After you've had the oven on for your dinner and turned it off. Put your chillies in, prick them a few times first to allow the moisture out. Repeat over a few days, you can even leave them sitting on a bit of foil on the top of a radiator.

Once they're properly dry, put them in a container and they'll last for ages. Or chop them a bit, put them in a pepper mill and use them as chilli flakes.
 

Jody

Stubborn git
Drying them is a good way to store. Just make sure you can cope with the smell as they are drying. It also tends to linger for quite a while after you have dried.

I then blend mine down with a coffee grinder.

Bare in mind they will lose approximately 95% of their weight. The jar below is over a kg of Bonda ma Jaques chillies that have been dried and powdered.
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