Last updated 15:18, Thursday, 21 August 2008

ZINGY red chilli jam? This might sound a strange use for chillies – and it is not one for your lunchtime sandwiches – but the ‘jam’ is delicious and can be used to liven up many different dishes.

Chillies have become more and more popular over the years, with a fair number of chilli farms springing up around the country selling chilli plants (or seeds if you want to grow your own) for jams, jellies, sauces and even chilli chocolate!

Eating chillies is said to be addictive, so once you have tasted one you will always come back for more. These small, hot peppers contain capsaicin (derived from the name of the plant genus capsicum from which they originate). This is a natural chemical that sends the message about the burning sensation from the mouth to the brain, to ‘defend’ itself from this onslaught the body secretes endomorphins.

These are the body’s natural painkillers and give us a natural ‘high’ to keep us coming back for more.

I should say now that chillies don’t always have to be very hot and there are many milder versions available. However if you are not careful they can cause blisters and tears. In general, dark green chillies are hotter than pale green ones and hotter than red. As the fruits ripen they ‘sweeten’ and change to red. The thin, pointed chillies tend to be hotter than the short fatter ones. It is probably best to assume that the chilli is hot and use only a small amount of chilli to start with.

If you do burn your mouth, try to cool it down by drinking milk or natural yoghurt. The capascin that is responsible for the heat is not soluble in water so drinking water doesn’t help very much.

Fresh chilli has a very different ‘heat’ to the dried ones and has its own particular flavour. This is missing in many of the dried versions of chilli powders and flakes, which, although convenient to use, add only heat to the dish and not that the special flavour of fresh chillies.

These little fruits originated in Mexico and gave colour, heat and flavour to the bland cassava, yam and rice dishes which are the staple food of these areas.

They feature in the cooking of many South American countries, North and West Africa, India, Thailand etc not to mention Californian and Texan cooking. There are many different types of chillies although few make it on to our supermarket shelves. If you want to try some of the more interesting varieties then you will have to grow them yourself from seed. I couldn’t resist buying a packet of the exotic sounding Hungarian Hot Wax chilli seeds earlier in the season. They were easy to germinate and grow on and now I have bushy plants, about 3ft high. They have lots of bright red fruits hanging from them resembling some sort of exotic Christmas tree!

Some protection is needed to grow them i.e. either a polytunnel or green house or a conservatory.

HOW TO PREPARE THE CHILLIES

USE protective, thin, latex gloves to chop them up – if you don’t you can ‘burn’ your eyes and lips touching your face, even some time after you have dealt with them.

Also take care that the chilli doesn’t squirt in to your eyes. 

 Slit the chilli with a sharp knife and remove the seeds and the membrane, which are the hottest parts (unless of course you are happy with the heat). The tip of the chilli can be very hot so discard this as well.

Chop the rest of the chilli finely.

Once you are all ‘gloved up’ it is quite a good idea to chop up all the chillies at once. These can be frozen in a plastic pot and then you can take some out every time you want some.

ZINGY RED CHILLI JAM

 THIS recipe makes three small jars.

INGREDIENTS

1 medium onion, peeled and chopped

500g (1lb 2oz) ripe tomatoes

4 large garlic cloves

4 large red chillies whole (remove green stalk)

Approx 4cm stem ginger, peeled and roughly cut up

30ml (1½ fl oz) Thai fish sauce

250g (9oz) unrefined golden caster sugar

100ml (3 ½ fl oz) red wine vinegar

METHOD

Cut the onion and half the tomatoes in halves or quarters and then blitz in a food processor, along with the garlic, chillies and ginger. Pour into a large saucepan with a heavy base.

Add the fish sauce (you could substitute Worcester sauce as both are based on anchovies) and vinegar. Bring to the boil, stirring slowly. Reduce to a simmer.

Dice the remaining tomatoes finely and add to the pan. Simmer for about an hour stirring from time to time. It will turn darker and sticky.

Whilst the mixture is still warm pot in to sterilised jars and seal. Over time the jam will darken and it will get hotter. 

SERVING SUGGESTIONS

TRY spread on corncobs instead of butter, or as a dip for barbecued meat.

Use to top cream cheese on crostini as an interesting nibble. It is also delicious served instead of mint jelly or horseradish sauce with lamb or red meat.

CONTACT DETAILS

Address: Woodend Cookery, Woodend, Egremont CA22 2TA

Phone: (01946) 813017

email: gmjakobson@sky.com

Website: www.woodendcookery.co.uk