So you’re probably thinking, why on earth has she decided to make chilli Jam! You would be correct in thinking that, I know its a slightly obscure thing to make but trust me on this, once you’ve made it once you’ll keep making it. In all fairness, the quantities mean that you get quite a hefty amount of the stuff, so you might want to halve the ingredients if this is your first attempt and you’re not sure on whether you’ll like it or not. Saying that, once made this will last for 3 months in the fridge or the cupboard!
Now, you’re probably thinking that this all sounds great but when would I use it? Well to tell you the truth this can be used for just about anything…I’m talking the base of a stir fry sauce, something to dip your chicken nuggets or halloumi fries in, a salad dressing even! I dipped my ham and cheese toastie in it today and boy was that an experience!
The thing that makes this chilli jam different to your average shop bought Sweet Chilli Sauce, is 1) This is free from onion and garlic. 2) It uses lots of red peppers which make it really sweet and Moorish. 3) This is a little thicker, and packs way more punch without blowing your head off. You can definitely still use it as a sauce because its like a thick paste rather than a lump of jam.
The one down side is that it takes a little while to cook, and you need to watch it at certain points. It’s like a foetus, it needs a lot of attention while its cooking but as soon as its ready its a joy! Slightly graphic image there, I do apologise! One of the most high maintenance things about this jam, and others is that when its simmering you have to skim off any scum that comes to the surface. This happens a lot at first and then dies down. You’ll end up with a bowl of chilli scum which tastes great but wont set and would make your jam frothy if you left it in! Its easy to skim the jam, just use a table spoon and gently glide it over the surface, taking the scum away from the bubbling jam.
Once its had a good simmer, you have to cook it ferociously for around 15 minutes. Health warning, DO NOT TOUCH THE JAM AT THIS POINT. It might look super yummy and you might want a cheeky taste but at this point the jam is super hot and you will burn your tongue. Don’t say I didn’t warn you. When the jam is bubbling you want it to look like lava. For it to bubble properly, you need a really large pan. In hindsight I probably didn’t use a big enough pan and so I couldn’t let it boil too much because it would’ve boiled all over my cooker! So a big pan, no touching and skimming the scum are my three top tips when making this jam!
So, as usual the recipe card can be found below! I really want to know what your using this chilli jam to go with, I weirdly think it might be nice on a gooey dark chocolate brownie but I need to pluck up the courage to give it a try, maybe chilli jam and chocolate brownie is a step too far! What do you think?
Happy Jamming!!
My IBS and Me x
My IBS and Me... 