This year in the Self Sufficient garden, we have had an extremely successful chili crop. So successful in fact, that even my desire for all things Hot ‘n’ Spicy has been complete satiated. But I had never before made a Chili Paste preserve.
I had nearly run out of things to do with them all. We have a fair few ripe chillies, both large and small drying outside, and many (too many) jars of Pickled Chilies in the larder. I felt like doing something different and found a truly Hot Chili Paste called Schug. With a name like that how could I resist…
This is my ‘Sort of Schug’, as some of the ingredients are not so easy to find in a hot dry Spanish garden. So no offense to any folks from the Yemen, but this is my Dirty Boots Schug Chili Paste. It’s hot hot hot, but its wonderfully aromatic and tasty too.
One word of warning. I am happy to chop, deseed and eat chillies on a regular basis, with no fear. I have always scoffed at those cookery books which suggest wearing rubber gloves to deal with chilies. However, when making my few jars of this chilli paste I realised why they make such suggestions.
With so many chillies to prepare, the ends of my fingers were on fire for days, and I did feel like my fingerprints were no more. So if you do not deal with chillies in volume on a daily basis perhaps gloves would be a good idea. Or do what I didn’t and leave the food processor to do all the work for you.
‘Sort of’ Schug Chili Paste Recipe
Schug Ingredients
- 1 large garlic bulb, peeled
- 750g (1.5 lb) fresh green chillies (I used serrano)
- 2 tbsp coriander seeds
- 2 tsp cumin seeds
- 2 tsp black peppercorns
- 1 tsp cardamom pods
- 1 tsp cloves
- 2 tbsp salt
- a little olive oil
Schug Method
Finely mince the garlic and chillies. A food processor or mincer would be perfect. Or like me you could chop everything then faff about with a blender or maybe even a juicer. We like the Breville BJE200XL. It is great for juicing all manner of things. This Breville BJE200XL review may just sway you if you have been looking for a cool new juicer.
Grind the whole spices in a spice mill or coffee grinder – or faff like me with a pestle and mortar.
Sprinkle the spices and salt into the chili mixture and mix well.
Pack the Chili Paste tightly into sterilised jars and cover with a thin layer of olive oil. Seal and pop in the fridge. The paste is ready to eat immediately and should keep for around 3 months if kept in the refridgerator.
Authentic Schug would have less dried coriander and a few bunches of the fresh stuff instead. Plus you would add fresh chopped coriander just before serving.
It can be used as an extremely Hot and Spicy condiment or as part of marinades or rubs. Alternatively a spoonful will seriously liven up soups and stews or can be used at the start of stir-fries. Use your homemade Schug Chili Paste for whatever you can think of but be warned – this is a hot one.
For a more self sufficient future-
Sounds fab Mrs Dirtyboots, thanks for that. This year we did better with our coriander than our chillis. I copied my Brazillian sister-in-law’s method which is to treat the seeds more like a mustard cress crop, tightly packed and quickly harvested. It meant an awful lot of successional sowing though!
Goo – sounds like a good idea, might try that here with the coriander as they’re really prone to bolt in no time.
AG – you’re a woman after my own heart – I definitely prefer ‘approximates’ rather than ‘definites’ to follow – it means you get something different every time.
This sounds wonderful! I like “sort-of” recipes almost best, because that’s how the real world works, isn’t it?
I tried this recipe with some scotch bonnet chillis I’ve grown this year. HOT!!! A bit too hot in fact which has completely overpowered the taste of the herbs. I’m going to try again, but was wondering if anyone had tried different chillis other than the Serrano variety?
cardamom pods, yum!
Thoughtful post, good information, definitely food for thought – no pun intended!
I love trying new recipes. I ask my mom for recipes and she says “Oh a handful of this, lil bit of that, some more of this until it tastes right . . . .”
Quantities, methods!
Laters, Jax
Just wondering, if you added water to this, would it make chilli sauce? I can honestly say I’m addicted to the stuff, and this sounds lovely!
Amara – I guess so. A variation on this with some cider or wine vinegar makes a good bbq marinade for chops too, we discovered recently.