Topic: What chillis do you use?

[Chillibotty]

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

[CurryCanuck]

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

[raygraham]

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

[Chillibotty]

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

[Mark J]

I love the standard green finger chillis, definately a taste straight from the BIR!

[curryqueen]

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.

[Chillibotty]

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

[Mark J]

This sounds interesting, where do you folks get the seeds for these chillis?

[curryqueen]

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!

[Chillibotty]

These are the Chocolate habaneros, my prefered choice of heat ;D

These were home grown last year.