In our humble opinion here at The Chilli King, chilli jelly needs to be hot. In fact it needs to be a little bit ‘too hot’. The Trinidad Moruga Scorpian peppers that I use in this recipe are perfect for achieving this heat. Of course you can adjust the type and quantity of peppers to your taste.

Our Moruga Scorpian plant was given to us earlier in the year by our friends over at Potters Plants. If you don’t have Trinidad Scorpians then any variety will do, particularly other super hot chinense varieties such as Naga Jolokia or Butch Ts. Failing that most supermarkets or asian shops tend to stock the old hot sauce favourites Habanero or Scotch Bonnets which would work equally well in this recipe.

The following recipe makes approximately 2 x 250ml jam jars. This incredibly simple chilli recipe has only three ingredients: chillies, sugar and vinegar.

Super Hot Chilli Jelly Ingredients

• 3 x Moruga Scorpian chillies
• 500 g of jamming sugar
• 300 ml of cider vinegar

1. Add the jamming sugar and vinegar to a medium sized saucepan. Cook over a gentle heat until the sugar has dissolved. Try to avoid stirring the sugar, instead an occasional swirl of the pan will help it along.

2. Remove the stalks and blitz the chillies in a food processor while the sugar is dissolving.

3. Add the chillies and turn the heat up when all of the sugar is dissolved in the vinegar.

4, Bring the mixture to the boil and continue to cook at a rolling boil for 10 minutes.

5. Turn off the heat and wait a few minutes. Any bubbles/foam should disappear after a couple of minutes. If not skim off the top with a spoon.

6. As the jelly cools it will start to thicken. Try to jar the jelly while it is still pourable but thick enough for the chilli flecks to be suspended in the jelly rather than floating on top.

6. Once the consistency is right (typically after 5 minutes), add the jelly to sterilised jars and seal tightly.

Unlike chutney chilli jelly is ready to use as soon as it has cooled and fully set. This hot chilli jelly is ideal served with cheese and crackers, along side cold meats or in sandwiches/toasties.

Habanero peppers are absolutely perfect for making hot sauces. Habaneros provide an amazing flavour as well the expected searing heat. There are literally thousands of habanero sauce recipes out there but this is my ‘go to’ recipe for making a basic habanero sauce.

In this recipe I’ve used red habaneros, however any variety will be perfectly adequate. The addition of the carrot means the sauce ends up with a vibrant orange colour. If you don’t have habaneros then any ‘super hot’ pepper or chinense variety of chilli such as Scotch Bonnet, Butch T or  Scorpian Moruga will be fine in this recipe.

Habanero Hot Sauce Recipe Ingredients

This recipe makes about 500ml of sauce. You can scale up or down the ingredients if you want to make more or less.

• 10 x Fresh Habanero Chillies
• 1 medium sized carrot
• 1 onion
• 2 teaspoons of salt
• 1 cup of water
• 1 and 1/2 teaspoons of corn flour
• 1 teaspoon of sugar
• 4 cloves of garlic
• 1 cup of cider vinegar

1. Finely chop the carrot, onions and habaneros and add to a small saucepan with the water and vinegar. Bring to the boil then simmer on a low heat until the carrots and habaneros are soft. This should take roughly about 20 minutes.

2. Meanwhile add the garlic cloves (unpeeled) to a dry frying pan on a high heat. Once the skin is charred remove from the heat and set aside.

3. After 20 minutes of simmering, add the habanero mixture to a food processor along with the garlic (peeled), salt, sugar and corn flour and blend until the mixture is smooth.

4. Add the mixture back in to the saucepan and simmer for 2-3 minutes. Use your judgement here, if the mixture looks a little thin continue to cook down until it reaches a consistency you’re happy with.

5. Once you’re happy with the consistency of the sauce, pour it into sterilised bottles and allow to cool.

The sauce will keep for a few months if left unopened. Once you’ve opened a jar/bottle keep it in the fridge and consume it within a few weeks.

Feel Free to Experiment

Hot sauce recipes such as this are very flexible. As mentioned above, this is my base hot sauce recipe so feel free to tweak and adjust as you feel. If you want to liven the sauce up you can substitute some of the vinegar for some lime juice. Also you can add some sweet fruit such as papaya or mango, to add extra sweetness and an extra dimension of flavour. Just remember the more fruit/vegetable you add the more vinegar/lime juice you’ll need to add to maintain the preservative nature of the recipe.

When you’re cooking this sauce it is worth opening a few windows in the kitchen. While the cooking of the habaneros gives off a wonderful smell, you’ll likely find your eyes and nose watering if you don’t let some of the fumes escape!

Being married to an Indian, I like to think i’ve learnt a thing or two about authentic Indian cuisine over the last few years. When I see that yet another celebrity chef has written a book on Indian cuisine I always fear the worst. All to often the result is not so authentic recipes. However in this book I’m pleased to say that Rick Stein seems to have got it bang on and delivered a great recipe book.

The book is a follow on from the recent TV series of the same name. It was clear watching the series that Rick Stein was really captivated by his time in India, both with the culture and people as well as the food. Its nice to see such a talented chef so openly engaged in learning more about a foreign food culture.

What I like most about this recipe is that the author doesn’t dumb down any of the recipes or ingredients for his British audience. While the usual suspects such as Butter Chicken, Sag Paneer and Korma are present and correct there are also the real classics of Indian cuisine that are often undiscovered by the British like Thoran (dry cabbage dish), Rasam (tamarind and tomato soup), Rajma (kidney bean curry) and Dal Maa ki (black lentils).

In the actual recipes Rick has stuck to the small details that make the differences in the dishes. Whether it is the small addition of daal in the rasam or specifying different types of oil (mustard, coconut etc) for certain dished it is these small details that I believe make the recipes truly authentic.

While filming the TV series Rick was based in Kerela and as you’d expect for such an accomplished fish chef there is a healthy section on Indian fish dishes.

The photography in the book (by James Murphy) is stunning. The richness of colours really portray a sense of India and certainly are faithful to the food, not over styled like many modern cook books. I have some great Indian recipe books by the likes of Madhur Jaffrey that are jam packed full of excellent recipes however their lack of illustrations and creative photography mean I don’t often get excited and inspired by them. In contrast I was trying Rick’s Calcuttan Prawn Curry within half an hour of first opening this book.

If you’re going to buy a recipe book on Indian cuisine then at just over £10 from Amazon this is a great buy. Whether you’re a complete novice to Indian cooking or an expert in daals and spices you’ll find plenty to excite and inspire you in this book.

Rasam is I guess in many ways the South Indian version of soup. It’s a hearty dish that is very thin, watery in texture and usually served with a little rice. The flavour is a mix of sour (from the tamarind), sweet (tomatoes) and spicy. In India it is usually served as a light starter or as a side dish.

For many Indians Rasam is their comfort food of choice. While there are many variations of rasam I’ve tried to develop a simple recipe here that uses basic ingredients.

Rasam Ingredients

• 3 tomatoes
• 1 teaspoon of ghee or oil
• golf ball size piece of tamarind
• 750ml of water
• 1 teaspoon of roasted and crushed cumin seeds
• 1 teaspoon of black mustard seeds
• 10 curry leaves
• 1 teaspoon of crushed black peppercorns
• 1 crushed red dried chilli
• 3 fresh green chillies
• 3 tablespoons of split orange lentils
• 1 thumb sized piece of ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon of turmeric
• 1 pinch of salt
• fresh coriander
• 1/4 teaspoon of asafoetida powder

First of all soak the tamarind in hot water (just enough to cover it) for around 10 minutes, stirring every few minutes and crushing the tamarind with the back of a wooden spoon to get the juices/flavour out.

While the tamarind is soaking add some oil/ghee to a pan and add the mustard seeds, cumin and curry leaves. Once the mustard seeds start popping add the turmeric, dried chilli, crushed black pepper and asafoetida and cook off for 30 seconds. Next add the chopped tomatoes, salt, green chilies (cut diagonally), ginger, lentils and water.  Finally take the tamarind water/paste and sieve into the other ingredients forcing any tamarind paste through the sieve.

Simmer on a low/medium heat for around 20 minutes and garnish with some fresh coriander to serve.

It is definitely the time of year to be making chutney. A glut of courgettes and chillies is the perfect excuse to make some serious chutney. This is the first time i’ve made chutney with chocolate habaneros but it certainly won’t be the last. Their unique flavour lends itself perfectly to chutney and the heat packs a serious punch.

The following recipe makes a small batch of 4 jars. While it is very simple to make allow about 4 hours as the cooking time should be at least 3 hours. You can simply multiply up the ingredients to make more if required.

Chocolate Habanero Chutney Ingredients

• 6 x chocolate habanero chillies
• 500g marrow/courgette
• 250g of cooking apples
• 250g of onion
• 200g sultanas
• 100g of muscavado sugar
• 150g light brown caster sugar
• 350ml of cider vinegar
• 3 x large tomatoes
• 1 teaspoon of ginger powder
• 1 x teaspoon of white mustard seeds
• 1 x cinnamon stick

Spice Packet Ingredients

• 10 x black peppercorns
• 1 bay leaf
• 6 x cloves
• 1 x teaspoon of coriander seeds

Take a small square of muslin and place all of the above ingredients on top. Next draw the 4 corners together and tie firmly together with a piece of string. Added to the chutney this will allow the spices inside to gently infuse the mixture.

Making the Chutney…

Chop all of the ingredients into small pieces (1cm) and add everything to a large pan along with the spice packet and a splash of water. Slowly bring the mixture to the boil.

Once boiling, turn the heat down and cook on a low heat for 3-4 hours, stirring frequently to avoid it sticking to the bottom of the pan. You know when the chutney is ready when if you scrape a wooden spoon across the bottom of the pan the mixture takes 3-4 seconds to ooze back, re-covering the bottom of the pan.

Remove from the heat and carefully pack into sterilised jars, packing it down to avoid any air bubbles. Cut a small circle of grease proof paper and place over the top before tightly sealing the jar.

Remember that all chutneys mellow slightly over time while the flavours improve. If it tastes way too hot when you jar it it should be perfect after a couple of months. Store in a cool dark place for at least 2 months before using. Stored well the chutney will last over 2 years. Once opened store in the fridge. It can be used in thousands of different waves but I think its perfect served with cheese and red wine.

Afer waiting an age all of those pods are now ripening thick and fast. I’ve just had a quick whip round and harvested this little lot. Roughly from left to right there are some Cayennes, Aji Lemon, littele Demon Reds, 1 x Moruga Scorpian, Chocolate Habanero, Orange Rocoto, F1 Medina and Super Chilli F1.

As you can see above some of the Chinense varieties and the super hots are starting to ripen. So far most of the fruits produced have been the annums and F1 varieties. That said i’ll soon have a glut of Chocolate Habaneros and Moruga Scorpians within the next few days. Elsewhere the Naga Jolokia are still showing no signs of turning…

By far the most productive plants this year has been this Aji Lemon that i’ve kept just inside the conservatory….

To date this plant has produced just over 60 ripe pods and it is showing no signs of slowing down. I’ll definitely be growing them again next year as the flavour from these pods is great. Interestingly i’ve got another plant of the same variety growing in the sunniest spot of the garden which has only produced 5 ripe pods – just goes to show what a difference growing chillies under glass makes when it comes to yields.

I had a bit of a disaster after getting back form holiday last night. While inspecting my plants and feeling rather pleased that all were in good health with lots of ripe pods to pick I noticed that the Dorset Naga plant had taken a bit of a battering in the wind.

The wind combined with the weight of the pods on it meant that it was leaning heavily to one side and looked like it needed staking. Unfortunately as i lifted the main stem ready to steak it snapped clean off at the base.

The only thing left to do was to salvage any unripe pods off the damaged plant and remember to stake my outdoor plants much earlier and better next year.

Fortunately though chilli pods can be used while still green or unripe so some of this haul will be eaten over the coming couple of weeks. Some will probably ripen through to red on a sunny windowsill and the rest will be frozen for use over the winter.

Inside the chilli house the plants are looking nice and healthy. On the left in a terracotta pot is an Orange Rocoto that is flowering but hasn’t set any pods yet. In the quadgrow from left to right is a Moruga Scorpian, Red Scotch Bonnet, Chocolate Habanero and Cayenne. All four plants have plenty of developed pods on them but but none have ripened yet.

The chilli house isn’t south facing so doesn’t get that much direct sun, just a few hours in the morning. Despite that i usually get plenty of ripe pods and using the self watering quadgrows really helps things speed along.

Above are some unripe chocolate habanero and red scotch bonnets. The bottom shot shows the Moruga Scorpian looking mean with it’s wrinkled skin. These chillies look so hot when they’re ripe. I can’t wait until they’re ready.

I’m long overdue an update on the blog so I think it’s fitting I start off with my 3 year old red scotch bonnet plant. I’ve overwintered this plant since I planted it back in 2010. The last couple of years i’ve kept it well trimmed with the idea of turning it onto a bonchi (chilli bonsai) plant.

This year it’s been living in our south facing conservatory which gets plenty of sun. It’s really responded well to this years weather and is currently sitting with about 15 large pods on it in various states of ripeness. As a rewards for it’s longevity it now takes pride of place on the kitchen table…

Also in the conservatory are some other plants scattered around. In the picture below from left to right are a demon red (which is covered in tiny green fruit), a Naga Jolokia that is slowly getting going and starting to flower. The third plant on the window sill is an Orange Scotch Bonnet which is stunted and is about to discover the compost heap! Finally on the crate is a super chilli (on the crate) that has a nice spread of pods on it waiting to ripen.

At the other end of the conservatory is the Aji Lemon or Lemon Drop chilli as they are sometimes known. This is the first year i’ve grow Lemon Drops before and having tasted it I really don’t know why it’s taken me so long to try this variety. They pack a reasonable punch but produce an amazingly citrus flavour. Without a shadow of a doubt this will be the first variety on my grow list for next year. As you can see the plant is quite stragley, needing a fair bit of support. However they are very productive. The plant below currently has about 50 pods on it and it’s still producing flowers.

Elsewhere the Orange Rocoto has a few small pods and is producing some beautiful flowers.