Chilli Jam

Sugar & spice & all thing’s nice. That’s what chilli jam is made of. Glowing jars filled with fiery chilli flecks, chilli jam is ac much a treat for the eyes as it is for the tongue. Surprisingly, after a bit of a washout Welsh summer (did August even happen already?!), I’ve had a bumper crop of chillies this year. My more notable varieties this year are little dwarf apache & medium purple gusto chillies, both are medium-hot in spice & add a colourful display of reds, greens & purple to my greenhouse.  I’m on my second crop now after eagerly picking away at them earlier on in the season & I think they’re attempting to bring the heat that the sun forgot to bring, always in abundance. There’s only so much heat this girl can handle in her meals, so rather than resign them all into the freezer, I figured I’d make a big batch of chilli jam.

Chilli Jam

With a jar of chilli jam in the house, the possibilities are endless. From burgers & toasties to cheeseboards & eggs, you can easily perk up any meal with this sweet & spicy preserve. Plus, it’s far more accessible straight from the jar & requires zero painful chopping (seriously, I have to wear gloves).This is really easy to make, the trickiest bit as actually the chopping! Technically, my method of making it is more of a jelly than a jam as I use apples rather than extra sugar to help it to set, but who are we to judge when it tastes this good? This has a good kick to it but not one that’ll blow your head off & leave you wanting to down a pint of milk afterwards, but if you prefer the heat then by all means add in another 3-4 chillies.

CHILLI JAM
(makes around 5 chutney jars)

Ingredients:

  • 4 large apples (around 1kg)
  • 1 ltr water
  • Juice of x1 lemon
  • 14-16 chillies (more if you like things spicier), finely chopped
  • 1kg granulated sugar
  • Optional: For a A few drops red food colouring

Method:

  • Before beginning, place a small saucer or plate into the freezer to chill
  • Roughly chop up the apples unto chunks, there’s no need to peel or core them first
  • Roughly chop half of the chillies & remove the seeds
  • Please the apples, chopped chillies, lemon juice & water into a maslin pan or large heavy bottomed saucepan
  • Bring the whole mixture up to a boil before reducing the heat & simmering for 30 minutes, until the apples have broken down & everything has turned pulpy & smells spicy
  • Set a maslin cloth or fine sieve over a large bowl & pour over the pulpy mixture
  • Leave the mixture to strain overnight (or at least a couple of hours) into the bowl, squeeze out any remaining liquid
  • Once strained, measure how much liquid you have before adding back into a clean maslin pan or large heavy bottomed saucepan
  • For every litre of liquid you have, add in an equal quantity of sugar to the pan (e.g. 1ltr of liquid to 1kg of sugar; or 500ml of liquid to 500g of sugar)
  • Finely chop & remove the seeds from the remaining chillies & add these to the pan
  • Set the pan over a medium heat until all of the sugar has dissolved
  • Once dissolved, bring the mixture to the boil & continue to boil the for 20 minutes
  • Test to see if setting point has been reached by placing a small drop of the jam onto the chilled saucer & push your finger through, if the surface wrinkles, it’s done. If not continue cooking for a further a few minutes & test again
  • Leave the jam to cool for 5 minutes before potting up into clean, sterilised jars
spoon

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