Curry Recipes Online
Beginners Guide => Hints, Tips, Methods and so on.. => Spices => Topic started by: Chillibotty on September 01, 2005, 01:01 AM
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What chillis do you use?
I personally like hot curries, the hotter the better ;D
Do you guys mainly stick to the indian varieties of chilli or do you use other varieties?
I have tried a few and have found that the Habanero chillis are just the ticket for my taste.
They can be difficult to get hold of from the shops so I grow my own now and they really make a difference to the curries, imparting a subtle fruity flavour and hot as hell! ;D
Gaz
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Lots of Habanero chilies in my neck of the woods...use them more in Mexican or Tex-Mex dishes - prefer scotch bonnet or birdseye and tend to balance them with the other ingredients so as not to overpower the dish .
CC
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Habenero Chillies, They can be difficult to get hold of from the shops so I grow my own now
Hi Gaz
I must agree with Curry Canuk Habanero's lend themselves more to Mexican dishes somehow. I just tend to use what the local Asian shops supply, normally thin green or red chillies about 3" long. I use them mainly on the basis if that's what they stock the restaurants will be using them in their curries.
In my younger day's I used to like very hot vindaloo/phall curries but now prefer madras at the hottest. Probably because I have burned all my tastebuds away in the past.
Interesting to know you grow your own. How succesfull are they and what advice can you give which variety is best to try?
Ray
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Hi Ray
I think chillis are easy to grow once you know what enviroment they like.
The windowsill is ideal and they can be grown all year round if given a sunny spot.
As I said before I use habaneros (the chocolate variety) because I like the fruity heat they give.
I think the run of the mill indian ones are cayenne types which are hot but no match for the habs.
It was my life long love of all things hot that got me into growing them to the point where I now trade online in chilli seeds/plants etc but enough of the plugs, I came here to talk about curries!
Does anyone eat raw chillis along with their curry? maybe its just me but I cant get enough of them, you definatly build up a tolerance as far as the heat goes.
Ive got a nice recipe which Im going to post later tonight when I have more time, its a home made affair which turned out very nice. Tandoori chicken in broccoli batter!
cheers
Gaz
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I love the standard green finger chillis, definately a taste straight from the BIR!
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Hi Gaz. I usually use halbenero chillies too, they give out great heat - my husband and I both like vindaloo/phall strength. I also use lots of thai chillies and some of them, if they are very small can blow your head off too! Fresh chillies are the way to go when makiing curries. If you use too much chilli powder, it masks the flavours and its horrible. I have plenty of chillies growing in my greenhouse, its nice to wander out there and just pick them, a sense of great satisfaction.
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Curryqueen,
I agree about the chilli powder and never use it myself, I always use fresh habs when available or if not Bird eyes.
What habs do you use ? I prefer the chocolate ones as they are quite a bit hotter than the scotch bonnets.
regards
Gaz
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This sounds interesting, where do you folks get the seeds for these chillis?
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Hi Gaz,
I use Carribean Red Halberneros, Habanero Burkina Yellow. These are only two of the different chilli plants that I have in my greenhouse. I grew some Tepin plants, which have small purple fruits on them and are very hot also. Birds Eye, Cherry bomb (which are mild, but I found several that blew my head off too). Maybe that was something to do with cross pollination or something like that. I have never tried the chocolate scotch bonnet seeds though.
Mark I usually save seeds from the chillies the year before and then replant them or buy in what I fancy. The halberneros that I have grown this year came from our local farmers market, only 50p each. OR you could always visit The Chilli Festival at West Dean. Sadly you have all missed it again this year, it is usually held on the first Saturday and Sunday in August. Had a great time there!
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These are the Chocolate habaneros, my prefered choice of heat ;D
These were home grown last year.
(http://www.applewebsolutions.co.uk/pics/chochabs.JPG)
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I usually use the standard green ones from asian groces. They're cheap as chips and not too hot, meaning they can be eaten whole in dishes like chilli massala.
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This sounds interesting, where do you folks get the seeds for these chillis?
Seeds from shop-bought chillies will often germinate (provided the chili was ripe when the seeds harvested). I found chillies would quite often cross-pollinate with other peppers if grown in close proximity, producing massive, mild sweet chillies.
On a related note,
If trying to grow coriander, use seeds from an Asian grocer rather than proper garden centre seeds as they're a tiny fraction of the cost. Alternatively, buy one of the live plants from a supermarket, break up the root ball and transfer to a larger pot with more compost.
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I was told by an Indian lady to soak the coriander seeds first in water and then plant. Do this every week and plant seeds once a week so that you have a concession of coriander from week to week.
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Those chocolate habaneros look awesome! Any chance of posting me some seeds?? ;)
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I was told by an Indian lady to soak the coriander seeds first in water and then plant.? Do this every week and plant seeds once a week so that you have a concession of coriander from week to week.
I've grown coriander several times
I bought a proper bag of seeds from a garden centre
They grew really well, but I couldn't use them all before they went to seed
It seemed very difficult to stagger the crop
I tried growing East End coriander seeds
They grew alright but were tiny plants
Only about two inches tall!
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Those chocolate habaneros look awesome! Any chance of posting me some seeds?? ;)
Unfortunately Mark I sell the seeds for a living so I can give them away, specially the Choccy habs, lol
If you want to check the website out I'll PM you the address.
cheers
Gaz
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Sure
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Folks, can one of you detail how I would dry and grind fresh chillies, I presume I bung them in the oven to dry them then I can use my coffee grinder to grind them. What temp and how long in the oven?
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Folks, can one of you detail how I would dry and grind fresh chillies, I presume I bung them in the oven to dry them then I can use my coffee grinder to grind them. What temp and how long in the oven?
Well the idea is to dry them and not cook them, so use the lowest heat possible, my oven goes down to 100c, and i've dried chillies cut in half for about 30mins, sometimes it takes longer depending on how much liquid there is in the chilli itself.
Just place the chillies on some tin foil in your oven on the lowest temperature and check after 30mins, then check again every 15mins until you find the right time for your oven and chillies. Just make a note for next time.
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Forgive me for asking a daft question...
Is there an easy way to turn green chillis red ?
I always end up buying too many green chillis and they eventually go stale...could I turn them red ? Is so, I could dry and grind them to produce home made "chilli power magnifico" :)
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Is there an easy way to turn green chillis red ?
Well I don't know about easy, but you've probably heard of the trick of ripening avacado by sealing it in an airtight bag with bananas or banana skins? This really does work and the chemistry for chillies is the same. The bananas release ethylene gas which is the ripening accelerator. Chillies work on the same principle, as do many fruits, and although I haven't tried it the same banana in bag trick should work. If you try it you will know within a day or two. Hope that helps.
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How about washing and drying them and freezing them whole? This is what I do when I have too many. To use, I just rinse the frozen chilli quickly in water and it becomes pliable just enough to chop up. of course, I dont know how much the heat is affected - not too much from my experience and the fresh taste of green chili is completely retained.
Payal
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Forgive me for asking a daft question...
Is there an easy way to turn green chillis red ?
They would all go red if left on the plant
So would green peppers
Once picked, it's unlikely you'll manage it
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Once picked, it's unlikely you'll manage it
No, it's definitely doable Pete. See my post above. The more fruit that goes in the bag with the chillies the, the more ethylene gas is produced and the quicker the chillies will ripen, i.e. turn red.
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This sounds interesting, where do you folks get the seeds for these chillis?
On a related note,
If trying to grow coriander, use seeds from an Asian grocer rather than proper garden centre seeds as they're a tiny fraction of the cost. Alternatively, buy one of the live plants from a supermarket, break up the root ball and transfer to a larger pot with more compost.
I did this in the spring. Bought a reduced coriander plant from the supermarket and planted it up. Used the coriander in cooking untill it went to seed. I then harvested the seeds, dried them and have a little tub of the most fragrant coriander seeds i've ever smelt, and all for about 25p!