Red Chilli Sauce

'Some like it hot, some like it hot' ... as the song goes.  And yes Mr P. especially loves it hot.  I too am not averse to some heat in the kitchen.  So here we have a quick, hot chilli sauce (you can make it less so if you wish) that you can use straightaway or have in the fridge to spice up your dinners.  

This recipe is from the cookbook by Tessa Kiros titled Now & Then.  I am looking forward to making more of her recipes.  There's cherry pie, and fish with lemons and oranges, and square scones ... I love that it's a pretty book too!

a small but potent condiment

Makes one (very) small bottle/jar - about 60-70 mL

ingredients:

5 small (fresh) red chillies or 5 dried chillies, chopped into pieces

1 large garlic clove, roughly chopped

2 Tbs lime juice

2-3 tsp light brown sugar

1.5 tsp fish sauce

Method:

Remove some or all of the seeds from the fresh chillies if you wish

If using dried chillies, place them into a small bowl, tip enough hot water over to cover them, bung on a small plate to keep them submersed, and leave to plump up for about 30 minutes

Drain, and remove seeds if you wish

You can either chop the chillies and garlic together so it forms a bit of a paste, or chuck them into your food processor - and blitz away

Once it's chopped/blitzed enough for your liking, place into a small bowl, and add in the lime juice, sugar and fish sauce

Give it a stir and a taste, and either add more sugar or more fish sauce if needed

Tip into a wee jar or bottle, and bung into the fridge - should be fine for a couple of weeks (maybe more!)

Notes:

I kept all the seeds in, and it is delightfully hot!  Tessa says to use bird's eye chillies, but use what you fancy

You will need a small food processor if not chopping by hand, as a large one just won't hit the spot!  (Blades too big)

Tessa says the recipe makes 80 mL, but I only got about 60!  (So about 2 fl ounces)

ingredients gathered

soaking the chillies in hot water for 30 minutes

keep 'em down!

whizz them up with the garlic clove

add in the rest of the ingredients and stir well

pour/spoon into the wee bottle

seal, and into the fridge it goes

(Joining in with Min from her blog Write of the Middle for the weekly link  #WWWhimsy)

c. Sherry M.