Playing with Fire

In previous years I have made my chilli paste (or Sambal Oelek if you prefer the Indonesian name commonly used in Australia) by simply throwing chilli and salt into the food processor and then storing the resulting mix in the fridge. 

However this year I have been trying to do things a little differently.  Whilst the paste I used to make kept pretty well and was great to use in cooking, it was a little too harsh to add at the table which is where I now add chilli in deference to the kids non chilli loving palates. 

I felt I needed to find a recipe which cooked the chillies as part of the process of making the paste.  I found one on Best Recipes and adapted it a little as I was concerned that using just chillies would make it too hot.

For my first batch I used:

• 200g chillies and capsicums (I used about 150g chillies and 50g capsicum)
• 1 cup water
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 tblspn vinegar (I used apple cider)
• 1 tblspn oil

Place the water and the chillies into a saucepan.  Bring to the boil.  Cook until the water has almost evaporated.  Cool slightly.  Place into a food processor with the remaining ingredients.  Whizz until you have a paste.  Place into sterilised jars, seal and store.

The jar on the left is made using this recipe.  It tasted good, you couldn’t taste the vinegar or the sugar but both will help preserve the chillies.  I was a little concerned that the oil will cause it to go bad more quickly so for the next batch I left it out.  I also felt that although the heat in the first jar was adequate I didn’t think a little extra heat would matter too much so the next batch I made with just chillies.  I also doubled the amount of salt to help with preservation.   This is the recipe for the second batch, pictured on the right:

Sambal Oelek

• 200g chillies (a mixture of very hot, hot & mild varieties)
• 1 cup water
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 tblspn vinegar (I used apple cider)

Place the water and the chillies into a saucepan.  Bring to the boil.  Cook until the water has almost evaporated.  Cool slightly.  Place into a food processor with the remaining ingredients.  Whizz until you have a paste.  Place into sterilised jars, seal and store.

The second batch is great, hot but not unbearably so, and the cooking of the chillies means its not nearly as harsh as non cooked versions.  I don’t imagine I’ll have any problems finishing my jars before they go bad.

To see how others use their harvest click onto the Gardener of Eden.