Lot’s of Chillies and nothing to cook with them!
A good problem to have but a problem none the less! I was lucky enough to be gifted some beautiful Thai chilli’s last week from one of my friends but I had already organised, read been shopping, meals for the rest of the week and there was no way I could use that many chillis with the ingredients I had.
So I could a) waste perfectly good food or b) preserve the chilli goodness for weeks to come!
There were about a dozen Bird’s Eye, or Red Thai, chillies and the same of the Green Thai chillies which will make more than enough fantastic curry paste bases and marinades to last us until next summer!
Now it has finally started to act like Autumn around here recently, although we are yet to have our first hard frost which is about a month overdue at this point, which means we are lighting the fire for at least a couple of logs every night. This made the choice of how to preserve my chillies a no-brainer, dehydrate!
I got my awl and pierced a hole through the top of all of the chilli’s being careful to try and not split the chillies.
Then I threaded some jute twine into my tapestry needle and threaded each type onto a string and tied them into a loop.
Then all I had to do was hang them above the fireplace and wait!
After 3 days the green ones were looking good but the red ones seemed to be going alot slower
10 days later and they are all done, not one rotted or fell off!
I will move them to hang in the pantry for another couple of weeks then put them on a mirror for 60 seconds and if they leave no condensation I will pulse them in the food processor to make my own chilli powder and put them in an airtight jar to ensure they keep their flavour until they're used up! Looks like Chicken Thai Green Curry is going to be a staple this winter and our Bibimbap's sweet chilli sauce is going to pack a punch!
Help me out with some chilli recipe's to add to our meal rotations below!
Til Next Time
All images my own, I know I need a better camera 😜