Some people just love chillies. Without chillies these same people would not enjoy their meals. For these people chillies simply completes their meals.
It adds that oomph that nothing else can ever replace. In the market these days you will find a small heap of chillies for $2.
This week we will look at several ways of preserving chillies from the World of chillies website to ensure your stock does not run out.
Drying chillies
Drying is a great way to preserve your leftover chillies and there are several ways to do it. Scotch bonnets, habaneros and other fleshy varieties tend not to dry very well, unless you have a dedicated dehydrator.
Drying is more suited to waxier chillies such as birds eye and indian peppers. Traditionally, chillies would be laid out in the sun to dry giving warmth and ventilation, but this is not always possible in cooler climates.
If you have neither a dehydrator nor a warm climate, the important thing to remember is to keep your chillies warm and dry. Around 25C is optimum, much higher and you risk a very brittle product, lower and you risk losing your chillies to mould.
The method
First rinse the chillies in salty water to help to prevent mould. Then spread them out on some moisture-absorbent tissue in a warm place such as a greenhouse, warm windowsill or airing cupboard, turning regularly. Store in an airtight container whole or use a coffee grinder to produce chilli powder.
Pickling chillies
Pickling works well for most types of chilli, keeping them crisp and hot as well as looking great in their jars.
Take 1lb chillies, remove any damaged fruit, make a couple of tiny slits into each chilli and wash thoroughly in salt water. Mix with 15 peppercorns, five bay leaves and three tblsp salt and pack into pre-sterilised wide-mouthed jars, to 1cm below the rim.
Heat 1 litre white wine, rice or cider vinegar with 6 tablespoons caster sugar until the sugar has dissolved and the mixture is almost boiling. Pour into the jars with the chillies, cool a little and seal. Refrigerate and leave for at least 2 weeks.
Freezing chillies
Chillies freeze reasonably well, retaining most of their flavour and heat. Freezing is the best way to preserve fleshier chillies like scotch bonnets and habaneros.
To freeze chillies whole, spread them out on a baking tray so they are not touching, freeze and pop into a sealed bag or container. This way they do not clump together.
Frozen chillies, however, do not always keep their shape or texture well with freezing so you may prefer to process them first. Remove the stalks and the seeds if you like (seeds can go a bit brown on freezing but this will do no harm) and freeze in a sealed bag. You can smash the bag with a rolling pin and use as required.
So you see even when the chillies are expensive and when there’s short supply you can still enjoy your meals with that added oomph.
