Homemade chilli jam

Hanno and I had a lovely day out last Thursday, visiting friends just north of here. Our good friends Beverly and Michael have just moved into a beautiful home on 400 acres on the Mary River. Michael took us down to the river where we stood in the shade and watched fish swim around in the river. They plan to develop the property as a multifaceted centre for indigenous groups, local and international tourists and for growing vegetable crops for sale. They have a couple of horses, chickens and, the day after we were there, they were getting a house cow and calf. Beverly wants me to help her deliver some skill building workshops in the future and I'm happy to do that.

After visiting Beverly and Michael, we drove further north to the home of Ann and Don. Ann is Calico Ann who reads here and at the forum. I met Ann at one of my book signings during the year. Another beautiful property where we enjoyed a delicious lunch on the verandah overlooking bush land and birds feeding in trays along the fence line. Ann's garden is like ours, on it's last legs, and probably by now has been dug in. She gave us a nice crop of mild spicy peppers and a few chillis to bring home.

I already had a bush full of small hot chillis, and I'll be drying many of them for use later in the year, so I made chilli jam using the chillis we brought home, with some from the backyard. Chilli jam is a delicious condiment to use on cold meat, chicken, avocado, eggs and with cheese. It's hot, spicy and sweet but if you taste it as you go along, you can make it to suit your own taste. A small jar of chilli jam here costs six or seven dollars so making your own gives you a very nice alternative to mustard or pickles, while keeping your hard-erned money in your purse.

Please note: the hotness of your chilli jam will depend on the type of chillis or peppers you use. I used a combination of the medium sized, low heat peppers Ann gave me, with six, small, hot chillis from our bush and one large red capsicum/pepper. The heat will also depend on the amount of seeds and membranes you use from the chillies. Taste as you go. If it's too hot for you, add another red capsicum/pepper, if it's not hot enough, add more seeds or more small chillies.

CHILLI JAM
INGREDIENTS - the mix of chillies below gives a hot result. For a milder chilli jam, use fewer hot chillies.

• 10 medium mild chillies
• 6 small hot chillies
• 4 cayenne chillies
• 1 red capsicum/pepper 
• 2 large brown onions
• 2 cloves crushed garlic
• 1 cup white sugar
• ½ cup white vinegar (good white vinegar, not your cleaning vinegar)
• ½ cup water
• juice of one lime or lemon
• 1 teaspoon fish sauce

METHOD

Wash the chillies, remove the top stem and chop roughly, leaving in the seeds. Removing the seeds and the inside membranes of the hotter chillies will reduce the hotness of the jam.

            

• Place the chopped chillies, onions, and garlic in a food processor and blitz until the chillies are in tiny pieces.

• Place the contents of the food processor into a saucepan and add the sugar and all the liquid ingredients.

• Stir until the sugar is dissolved and bring the jam to the boil. Take out a spoon full at this point to taste and adjust as needed. 

• Let the jam cook on a rolling boil for 45 minutes. A rolling boil is when the jam boils and even when you put a spoon in to stir it, it continues boiling, but doesn't boil over.

• When the jam is cooked and the right consistency (above), pour it into pre-sterilised jars. Put the lids on straight away and secure. Leave out on the kitchen bench overnight and when they're completely cool, store them in the fridge or the cupboard. There is enough vinegar and sugar in this jam to preserve it, you don't have to water bath it as well.

If you don't eat it before, or give it as Christmas gifts, this jam will last for about six months.

It is a worthwhile use of your time and effort to learn how to make the range of jams, marmalades, sauces, preserves, relishes and pickles that your family enjoys. Those you make will taste better than the bought varieties, trust me, they will, and they'll be healthier and cheaper. It also allows you to use food from your backyard in a number of ways and to store food for use later instead of it being wasted. Jam and preserve making is one kitchen skill we should all have.