Homemade chilli sauce is the ultimate treat, but really the most simple thing to make. Recently I did a preserving workshop for the company Urban Harvest. They build organic corporate, private and community vegetable gardens, often for underprivileged communities. The idea of the workshop was to teach their staff how to use leftover produce from the garden, and this is one of the recipes that I taught them. They absolutely loved it! They had so many bright red chillis in the garden, that we made enough chilli sauce to last a good while!
Chilli sauce makes everything taste better
I always try and have a batch of chilli sauce in the fridge, as it goes so well with so many dishes. It is the perfect accompaniment for cooked dishes such as curry or daal. It spices up sandwiches or wraps, or can be dolloped on top of pizza. If you have lots, you can even use it in the base of your sauces. It adds a real punch to a lasagne or pasta dish!
If I’m feeling really lazy and only have a few chillis to hand, I sometimes make a raw chilli sauce, but generally I prefer to make a cooked sauce. This makes a beautiful rich red sauce, and really allows the flavours of the ginger and garlic to mellow and mix with the chilli.
I like to add rice wine vinegar to my sauce. The vinegar adds a tang and also acts as a preserving agent. Rice wine vinegar has a slightly sweet fruity flavour which really adds to the depth of flavour here. Sugar balances the acidity and also preserves the sauce. I don’t add too much, as I don’t like the sauce too sweet. I find ginger and garlic are really delicious in a chilli sauce. In this recipe I add salt to my chilli sauce, but if you like you can swop this for fish sauce. This will give the sauce a slightly more Asian taste.
Make sure you sterilise your jars
Lastly, don’t forget that you will need to sterilise your jars before bottling your chilli sauce. Sterilising will kill any unwanted bacteria and ensure the preserves last as long as possible. To sterilise, wash the jars well with soapy water. Then, bake in the oven for 10 minutes at 160°C. You can boil the lids for 15 minutes. Or, boil the jars and lids for 15 minutes in water (they must be submerged). Remove the jars with tongs, and place on a cloth. This is important, as if you put them on a cold surface they will crack! I prefer to boil my jars and lids, but sometimes the jars are too big, so then I bake them.
Chilli Sauce
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Ingredients
- 100g red chillis (I use hot chillis, but choose a variety of your preference)
- 5 cloves garlic, peeled
- 3cm piece of ginger, peeled and chopped
- 1 tbsp. oil
- 100ml water
- 50g sugar
- 80ml rice wine vinegar
- 1 ¼ tsp. salt (or 1 tbsp. fish sauce)
- Sterilised jar
Instructions
- Cut the tops off the chillis and then remove the seeds using gloves (keep them in if you want a REALLY hot sauce.
- Place the chillis, garlic, ginger, oil and water in a blender. Blend to a puree.
- Place the sugar, vinegar and salt in a pot and stir to combine.
- Add the chilli paste and bring to a simmer. Cook for 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the sauce has reduced to a spreading consistency.
- Taste (if you dare!) and adjust the sugar, vinegar or seasoning.
- Pour into a sterilised jar and store in the fridge once cool.
