Mamta's Kitchen - A Family Cookbook





Preserving green chillies?

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On 19/04/2009 10:04am, SteveAUS wrote:

Hi

I have hundreds of green chillies that are just on the turn (they are ripe and starting to turn red). I already have a freezer full them whole. I would like to preserve them in vinegar in jars. Ive read a few sites so I know the basics of how to do it but was just wondering if there is anything else I could put in the jars? Garlic, spices etc? Any suggestions? I am drying a few to harvest the seeds for next year.

I also have hundreds of the little red birds eye chillies which are just starting to turn red (they were planted late)....hope they hurry up before the frosts come :o(

What can I do with them all?

Cheers

Steve

On 19/04/2009 12:04pm, John wrote:

I too would like to know this, I am growing 20 different varieties of chili peppers this year, and so far I have over 80 plants. By the end of the year I'm going to be inundated with chili peppers. I'm going to freeze some whole, dry some to use whole, for making chili powder and for next years seeds. I would also like to pickle some ? especially the jalepeno and tepin peppers.

On 19/04/2009 01:04pm, AskCy wrote:

I'm no expert on pickling but wouldn't it be basically something like steam some pickling jars (to clean them) add chillies, pour in vinegar, salt and maybe a touch of sugar, and close the lid ?

Steve

On 19/04/2009 09:04pm, SteveAUS wrote:

Yep - thats my understanding too :o)

Cheers

Steve

On 20/04/2009 06:04am, Mamta wrote:

I have quite a few chilli pickles here on site. The easiest one, and perhaps the most popular one in India, is Chilli Pickle The problem however is, how much chilli can you eat. Recipe Chilli Pickle is also good.

If your chillies have turned red, you can dry them on a newspaper (or any other absorbant paper) in a conservatory. The room needs to be hot. Chilli is one spice that you can only use so much of. 80 plants will have a huge amount of chillies. Share some with like minded friends or sell to a local shop ;-)!

Let me see if I can come up with some other chilli pickles/preservations.

Mamta

On 20/04/2009 06:04am, Winton wrote:

Dear Mamta,

I'm keen to try the "Chilli Pickled in Lime Juice or Vinegar" recipe as you recommended on this forum.

Just to check first, what chillies would you best recommend? I can get bowls of what I would describe as green 'birds eye chillis' for a pound in Whitechapel Market - would these be suitable?

Best wishes, Winton

On 20/04/2009 09:04am, Mamta wrote:

Depends upon how hot you want it Winton. Birds eye chillies will be beyond my chilli eating ability. I use the ones you get from Indian shops, like these ones; http://www.flickr.com/photos/mamta1/3458163267/

Indian shops do not name chillies, but generally speaking, thinner and more 'tighter' they are, hotter they will be. By tighter I mean full of seed and don't feel hollow when presses/squeezed, feel very firm.

I guess, it will work with any hot chillies. Pickling in vinegar reduces their heat some what, don't ask me the scientific reason for this.

On 21/04/2009 12:04am, SteveAUS wrote:

....but then you can use the chilli infused vinegar in your curries?

On 21/04/2009 05:04am, SteveAUS wrote:

Im going to give this a try with some of my green chillies. I have them soaking today whilst im at work. Im also going to add a few peppercorns and fresh curry leaves into the jars.

Basic Pickled Chillies

This recipe is for approximately 900g of chillies. We soak the chillies overnight in the brine first as it keeps the chillies crisper when pickled.

Brine

3 cups water

1 cup pickling salt

Combine the salt and water. You don't want holes/slits in your chillies yet. Cover the chillies with the brine in a bowl and put a plate or something similar over them to keep the chillies submerged. Soak the overnight then drain, rinse well, and dry.

Pickling Solution

3 cups white vinegar

3 cups water

3 teaspns pickling salt

Poke two or three small holes in top of each chilli and pack them tightly in sterilized jars leaving 1cm at the top of the jar.

In a saucepan, combine the water, vinegar, and salt. Bring the solution to a boil and then pour over the chillies, leaving no space at the top. Remove trapped air bubbles.

Store for 4 to 6 weeks in a cool, dark place before serving

Will let you know how it goes.

Cheers

Steve

On 21/04/2009 05:04am, Mamta wrote:

Yes Steve, you can use pickled chillies in curries. Drain the vinegar first. Also, you will need to use more than usual, they loose some of their heat in vinegar. However, you won't have many left many for sooking, they are too tasty ;-)!

I am sure chillies in brine will be fine, many people aorund the world pickle them like that. No camera yet? LOL!

On 21/04/2009 10:04am, SteveAUS wrote:

Well this is what I ended up doing after I got home. This is going to be my test batch after reading a site called chilliesdownunder.com.au so please dont take this as gospel as I have no idea what they are going to turn out like!

Brine

3 cups water

1 cup pickling salt

Recipe

275gms green whole chillies

2 500gms glass pasta jars

2 cups white white vinegar

1 cup malt vinegar

3 tspns sea salt

6 cloves

8 fresh curry leaves

2 tspsns yellow mustard seeds

Wash and leave chillies in the bowl of brine for 12-24 hrs.

Take the chillies out of the brine and wash thoroughly.

Save the brine in a big jar for another couple of goes.

Dry chillies in a tea towel and cut the stems off (leaving the cap)

Cut a couple of holes in each chillie

Put the two 500gm pasta jars in a saucepan with a couple of inches of water (as well as the lids) and bring it to the boil.

Boil for 10 mins then turn the heat off.

In another pot I put in the white, malt vinegar and sea salt. Pickling salt is better but I didnt have any. Apparently sea salt is better than normal salt which is not advisable to use.

Bring to the boil and turn off the heat.

Once the jars are cool enough to handle with a tea towel I put in the bottom of each jar 3 cloves, a tspn of mustard seeds and 4 curry leaves.

Pack the chillies into the jar, firmly but gently.

Pour in the vinegar mix, as close to the top as possible.

I then put glad wrap/cling film over the top and sealed with the lid.

Write the date on the jar as well as write the recipe and instructions down on some paper

Leave in a dark cool place for 4-6 weeks

Taaadaaaa...drum rolllll my first foray into pickling chillies!

Will let you know how they go!

Cheers

Steve

On 21/04/2009 09:04pm, Mamta wrote:

Sorry Winton, I deleted your last post by mistake, clicked on delete instead of reply !

You had said that you had found some bigger chillies like in my link, and were wondering about using a mix of lemon juice and vinegar, instead of using either vinegar or Lemon juice.

Go for the mix if you want to Winton, it should be good. Tell me how it comes, may be I will add a Note from Winton: Add 50:50 vinagar and Lemon juice ;-)!

And Pictures please LOL!

Mamta

On 25/04/2009 07:04am, Winton wrote:

Thanks for the advice Mamta. I now have two jars of chillis on the window sill (just as it clouds over!) One 75% lime juice with 25% vinegar to top up to cover the chillis, the other purely in pickling vinegar.

I did brine them overnight and not wanting to waste to the brine (thanks for that tip SteveAus!) have another batch to jar today. Any other ideas of pickling agents to try?

On 25/04/2009 08:04am, AskCy wrote:

Not a pickling agent as such but in Portugal they had bottles of tiny red chillies filled with olive oil (for making the piri-piri chicken)

Steve

On 26/04/2009 05:04pm, Lapis wrote:

Steve,

I would be very wary of home made chillies in oil (I don't mean Indian pickle, which usually has oil and lime juice, if using oil at all!). If not cooked thoroughly, a whole chilli can harbour anaerobic bacteria, which, when surrounded by oil (ie no air) can thrive. Anaerobic bacteria are the very worst kind, giving upset stomachs for a mild dose, to death in severe cases. Be very afraid!

On 26/04/2009 10:04pm, AskCy wrote:

hasn't covering with oil/fat/butter been used as a preserving method for many many things in many countries for hundreds of years ?

Steve

On 27/04/2009 04:04am, SteveAUS wrote:

Did some more pickling today:

Pile of green chillies (sliced)

3 cups white vinegar

3 cups water

2 tbspns sea salt

tspn each of Cinnamon, paprika, cumin seed, tumeric, fennel & 4 cloves.

I dry roasted the spices, then ground them and added to the boiling water/vinegar/salt. (smelt beautiful)

Put the chillies in the boiling mix for 20-30 secs and then spooned into jars and topped up.

Cheers

Steve

On 27/04/2009 06:04am, Mamta wrote:

Sounds great! Let us know how they taste:-)

Mamta

On 27/04/2009 02:04pm, Lapis wrote:

yes Steve, oil etc has been used for centuries, but I am concerned about the whole chillies I see being preserved in oil, sometimes the instruction in the recipe is just put the chillies in the oil, and bottle. This is a no no, as it does not prevent any ?oganisms inside the chilli from multiplying.

If chillies are to be preserved in oil, they must be split open first, then brought up to temperature (>80?C) for a while to kill off any life forms. This is one reason why the water content of the food we are preserving is much reduced before bottling.

Of course, this applies to any fruit/vegetable, but in my experience, chillies are a particular problem. I suppose we have all seen the lovely displays of brightly coloured chillies in oil sold in bottles, especially at festive occassions, but I wonder how sterilised they really are.

On 27/04/2009 10:04pm, SteveAUS wrote:

There is a lot of information on how to do it safely here:

http://www.ext.vt.edu/pubs/foods/348-078/348-078.html

Botulism comes up quite a lot and we all know what that does.

Cheers

Steve

On 28/04/2009 03:04am, SteveAUS wrote:

Got a day off today so just russled up some green chilli chutney.

250gms Green chillies (chopped)

1 tspn amchor (mango powder)

1 tspn shredded garlic

1 tbspn tamarind puree

1 tbspn sugar

1 tbspn lime juice

1/2 tspn salt

1/2 tspn Bhut Jalokia powder (im scared)

Blend all in a blender. Not too smooth though.

Holy crap - its got a kick! Very tasty too. Go well as an accompaniment to a nice vindaloo.

Cheers

Steve

On 28/04/2009 10:04am, Rajneesh wrote:

What on earth is Bhoot Jalokia powder Steve?

On 28/04/2009 12:04pm, Mamta wrote:

This is a fresh chutney, I wonder how long it will last in the fridge?

I just looked up Bhut Jalokia powder, it is the hottest chilli in the world!! Why would you need to add it to chilli chutney when you already have chillies as main ingredients! You need HOT chutney with a Vindaloo!!! Yikes!

On 29/04/2009 12:04am, SteveAUS wrote:

Well I got the Bhut powder off a friend who grows them. I kinda made it for him as a thankyou and a little for me (as an experiment)! Tastes delicious! Probably for an hour after tasting it! lol

Cheers

Steve

On 29/04/2009 09:04am, Winton wrote:

Dear Mamta

I made four jars of chilli pickle over the weekend. One 75% lime juice:25% vinegar, another just vinegar, one just lemon juice, and finally one vinegar + citric acid (cheating I know!) They are now tantalisingly looking at me from the window sill.

I used a 'pickling vinegar' which is purportedly brewed to a higher acidity. Am I allowed to try them now or should I be patient for a few more days to wait (for hopefully) an even better result?

Finally, once opened are they best kept in the fridge or is just a cool cupboard fine?

Thanks, Winton

On 29/04/2009 07:04pm, Mamta wrote:

Good God Winton, you will be eating chillies from morning to evening!

All 4 combinations should work, with slightly different tastes. Any time I have leftover choillies, I pickle them in vinegar or lime juice. They are good.

Next time, add a tsp. of coarsely ground black mustard seeds too, you will taste the difference.

As green chillies can be eaten raw, and are eaten raw, you can eat this type of pickle within 24 hours. It gets better in about a week, but you can start tasting it now :-).

Lets us have a comparative analysis of all 4, which comes out best. May be you will write it up for us here, with pictures of course, so we can all enjoy them.

Mamta

On 29/04/2009 08:04pm, Winton wrote:

Thanks Mamta for your reply. For all jars I did follow Mrs. Rastogi's recipe (as on your website) with salt, tumeric, black mustard seeds and mustard oil just varying the pickling agent.

Looking forward to a chilli feast at the weekend to compare them!

On 29/04/2009 08:04pm, Mamta wrote:

watch your stomach, too many chillies not good for it ;)! LOL!!

On 29/04/2009 08:04pm, Winton wrote:

Thanks for the advice Mamta. Luckily I am blessed with a robust stomach but will conduct my analysis with a lot of bread and cheese (and a jug of your savoury lassi recipe on stand-by!)

On 29/04/2009 09:04pm, AskCy wrote:

let us know before you start then we can retire to a safe distance!! lol

Steve

On 30/04/2009 09:04am, Winton wrote:

Thanks Steve! Don't worry, I'm not embarking on some World Record chilli eating contest, just a sample from each jar.

On 15/05/2009 08:05pm, Winton wrote:

Just to report back on my chili pickle experiments.

All the jars worked out successfully but if I had to rank them the best were:

(1) Chilli in pure lemon juice

(2) Chilli in pickling vinegar with citric acid (a very close second but probably with better preserving qualities)

(3) Chilli in half lime juice/half vinegar

(4) Chilli in pickling vinegar

And no Mamta I didn"t get any tummy upsets doing my research!

On 15/05/2009 08:05pm, AskCy wrote:

Thanks for the feed back !...

when you say pure lemon do you mean with salt and sugar or just lemon ?

Steve

On 15/05/2009 08:05pm, Winton wrote:

I just followed Mrs. Rastogi's recipe -

http://www.mamtaskitchen.com/recipe_display.php?id=13009

Just varying the pickling agent as suggested!

On 16/05/2009 02:05pm, Mamta wrote:

That sounds good Winton. I usually just bung any surplus chillies in a jar, add some lemon juice/vinegar, salt and coarsely ground mustard seeds, easiest and quite good. Same method can be use for a host of other vegetables. These pickles should be made in small amounts though, they don't taste good for ever, becaome too tart and soggy after a while.

Slightly off the subject, I wonder if one still has to heat & cool mustard oil before use, since it is now supposedly available in 'refined' form. I haven't seen it yet, but I am told it is out there. Anyone used this new mustard oil yet?

On 16/05/2009 04:05pm, Winton wrote:

I have always followed your instructions Mamta, and brought the oil up to smoking point before using. The bottles still come with strict warnings "FOR EXTERNAL USE ONLY" But think this is only due to some obscure EU law following failed tests with rats

"Mustard oil was once considered unsuitable for human consumption in the United States, Canada, and the European Union due to the high content of erucic acid. "This is because of flawed studies in rats. Subsequent studies on rats have shown that they are less able to digest vegetable fats (whether they contain erucic acid or not) than humans and pigs.[2][3][4] Chariton et al. suggests that in rats: ?Inefficient activation of erucic acid to erucyl-CoA and a low level of activity of triglyceride lipase and enzymes of betaoxidation for erucic acid probably contribute to the accumulation and retention of cardiac lipid.?[5] Before this process was fully understood it led to the belief that erucic acid and mustard oil were both highly toxic to humans" (Wiki)

So I continue to use it regularly with no side effects and am still very much alive and kicking! However for external use my Dad uses it to massage into his knees in his battle against arthritis and claims it far more effective than any of the pills or potions prescribed by his GP.

Hopefully Lapis can give us her considered answer on this one!

On 16/05/2009 06:05pm, Mamta wrote:

Yes, mustard oil is considered to be the best Massage oil in India. You do have to have a bath afterwards, or you stink!

On 23/05/2009 12:05am, SteveAUS wrote:

Hi - I opened a jar of these that I made a while back....and they are absolutely great! Beautiful on a BBQ chicken sandwich or on top of a baked potato with sour cream etc, in fact I have a tablespoon of them on the side of nearly every dinner plate!. Very happy with the result. Theres the sweet green (HOT)chilli flavour with the underlying taste of the added spices. I copied the recipe from earlier in the thread below.

Cheers

Steve

Pile of green chillies (sliced)

3 cups white vinegar

3 cups water

2 tbspns sea salt

tspn each of Cinnamon, paprika, cumin seed, tumeric, fennel & 4 cloves.

I dry roasted the spices, then ground them and added to the boiling water/vinegar/salt. (smelt beautiful)

Put the chillies in the boiling mix for 20-30 secs and then spooned into jars and topped up.

Cheers

Steve

On 23/05/2009 05:05am, Mamta wrote:

Looks good Steve. Would you like me to add it in proper recipe format to the site?

Mamta

On 23/05/2009 09:05pm, SteveAUS wrote:

Yeah Mamta - that'd be great. Hope someone else can have a go!

Cheers

Steve

On 25/05/2009 07:05pm, Rajneesh wrote:

A question for Mamta/Steve/ John and all chilli lovers,

I wonder which chillies would best for curries? I use the thin soft ones available in indian shops, but I am sure there are beauties out there which would blow your mind away!!!!!

Hotness should be there of course, but it must have a "chilli(ish)" taste, or "character" or "body" if you may.

Cheers!!

On 25/05/2009 07:05pm, AskCy wrote:

It would depend on what you were making and why you wanted the chilli in ?

A very mild chilli would mean you could add lots and get plenty of chilli flavour without burning your insides out...

Where a red hot chilli could add bite to a dish without changing its flavour too much ...

Steve

On 25/05/2009 08:05pm, Mamta wrote:

Unfortunately, chillies sold in India or Indian shops here are never identified by their names. It just isn't the custom there. I use the thin long ones from Indian shops. If I need heat, I buy the ones that feel quite full and 'tight'. The hollower ones are not so hot. This is a very unscientific method, but it works for me.

mamta

On 26/05/2009 11:05am, SteveAUS wrote:

John, I use the big bags of dried red curries too from my local indian shop, they are long, thin and unfortunately have no name. Im sure with your collection of chillies that you grow you could just start experimenting. Last weekend I made mamtas vindaloo with my usual double dose of chillies and black peppercorns......AND a teaspoon of dried crushed bhut jholokia that I got from a friend. I didnt pick up any of the bhut in the taste of the vindaloo at all. It was a corker though. So yeah its all about experimenting I reckon.

Cheers

Steve

On 26/05/2009 02:05pm, Lapis wrote:

Most of the chillies exported from India (and 75% of the entire Indian chillies grown (recent data) is a variety known as sanam or sannam. It is about 70 - 90 mm long, about 10mm wide, mid red colour, medium heat and thin skinned. Its shape resembles a knife, straight on one side and curved on the other.

Others of note (and often named on the packet, as I found in London and Bangalore) are Byadgi (often incorrectly called Kashmiri chillies) and mundu, these are the round ones. Very small ones, often referred to as bird's eye, come from NE India. These are generally thought to be the hottest, except for the rather strange 'Naga' chillies, which are reported to be the 'hottest in the world'. These are available (fresh)in London from Bengali/Bangladeshi shops.

I have found that there are about 250 -300 varieties of chillies grown in India. About 30 are 'old varieties', another 30 are well known hybrids (like jawala), and most of the rest are rather rare and experimental, grown by Universities and seed stations, to combat draught and wilt and pests.

As you will know, chillies are used either fresh or dried in Indian cuisine, and are used somewhat differently. However, if using them fresh, I would try to find a supply of small green chillies, sometimes called 'finger chillies'. At a pinch, I have used Thai bird's eye, and even a variety known as cayene, but most Mexican/American types (jalapeno, etc) have thick skins, and not so suitable. I would suggest leaving habaneros alone, as well, for Indian dishes, they have a fruity flavour, completely alien to Indian cuisine, IMHO.

On 26/05/2009 05:05pm, Mamta wrote:

Thank you for that Lapis, very informative.

I think Bhut Jalokia has taken over from Naga in the heat stakes.

Dorset Naga 900,000-920,000 units on the Scoville scale

Bhut Jalokia 1001304

On 26/05/2009 05:05pm, Lapis wrote:

Yes, Mamta, there are lots of claims, aren't there. I find it all very silly, for a number of reasons. Who needs a blsteringly hot chilli? If one uses chillies for their flavour, and some have a very good flavour (if we can get past their heat)then why have ones where they swamp all the flavours? I have a good friend in Bangalore who made a dish with just one Naga, and had to dilute it into five other dishes before he could enjoy it! Secondly, all the 'super hot' chillies are from a species known as Capsicum chinensis (not meaning from China, but just 'foreign'). This species includes habenaros and Scotch bonnets, and all have a fruity flavour, which I find does not fit well with Indian food.

I think some enterprising people have grown habs or scotch bonnets in NE India/Bangladesh, and are claiming world records, for the sake of it. Well, good luck to them, but I'm not convinced it has any culinary appeal!

On 26/05/2009 09:05pm, Mamta wrote:

I agree with you entirely Lapis, not being a great lover of very hot food. I think that too much chilli covers the true taste and flavours of food, it numbs your taste buds, sort of.

On 26/05/2009 09:05pm, AskCy wrote:

Just been pointed at these videos on YouTube !

This bloke is taste testing over 80 chillies!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZaEjcY30wgY&feature=channel_page

Steve

On 26/05/2009 09:05pm, John wrote:

Yeah, Neil, he's great. Back of mi throat mate, back of mi throat LOL.

On 27/05/2009 06:05am, Mamta wrote:

Mental! LOL!!

It is like self flagellation! Why would a sane person do that?

On 27/05/2009 07:05am, Winton wrote:

Agree Mamta, perhaps the guy finds it a different challenge as a member of Opus Dei to strapping a bit of barbed wire round his leg?

I love a curry with a gentle glow of chilli and occasionally one with a bigger 'kick' but as you suggest anymore just kills off all the taste of other ingredients.

In these chilli eating contests perhaps the capsicum oil reaches a point of maximum impact in the mouth so it is so numb that you can continue to munch away.

I certainly won't be trying this at home and as say on TV "neither should you without professional medical supervision."

On 27/05/2009 09:05am, AskCy wrote:

I'm guessing this bloke has been heating chilli based food for years and worked his way hotter and hotter over the years, to the point where eating raw chilli gave him the same sort of buzz that a decent curry used to do. As we all know chilli makes the body react and the effects are addictive... basically he is a chilli addict who has now got a company selling the seeds.. !.

Steve

On 07/09/2010 12:09pm, clarabell wrote:

Hi,

the recipie for th chilli pickle hot - 2 in Lime juice or Vinegar.

Once made how long will this keep in sterilised jars ?

Many thanks,

clare

On 07/09/2010 04:09pm, Mamta wrote:

It lasts well over a year, but once opened, I keep the jars in the frdge.

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