Do you have excess chillies after the wet and then dry times? The following recipe from Homegrown: A year of growing, cooking and eating by Paul West (available in Brisbane City Council Libraries 635.099 WES) may help to preserve and use them on “almost everything” (p74)!
Quick pickled chillies
Ingredients
- 1 kg chillies of your choice, sliced lengthways
- 2 teaspoons coriander seeds
- 2 teaspoons black peppercorns
- 250ml (1 cup) white vinegar
- 115g (half cup) castor sugar
- 2 teaspoons salt
Method
Sterilise 4 x 250ml jars and lids – preheat the oven to 120 degrees C. Wash the jars and lids in hot soapy water, then arrange on a large baking tray. Place in the oven for 20 mins, then allow to cool completely before filling with your choice of produce or preserve. (p 251)
Distribute the chilli evenly among the jars and add the coriander seeds and peppercorns.
In a small saucepan, combine the vinegar, sugar, salt and 250ml (1 cup) of water and bring to the boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar and salt. Remove the pan from the heat, let the mixture cool for a couple of minutes, then pour the warm liquid into the jars, making sure that the chillies are fully submerged but leaving at least a 1 cm gap at the top of the jars.
Screw the lids on and place the jars in the fridge, where they will keep, unopened, for up to 3 months. To make it shelf stable …place a tea towel in the bottom of a deep saucepan, then place the jars on top of the tea towel and fill the saucepan with water, covering the jars by at least 5 cm. Bring the water to the boil and boil for 10 mins, then kill the heat and allow to cool to room temperature in the pan. Preserved this way…will be stable at room temperature for at least 1 year. Once opened, store in the fridge and consume within 1 month (p 251).
You can eat the chillies straight away, but their flavour will improve after a few days. Once opened, store in the fridge and consume within 2 weeks.
Makes 4 x 250ml jars