How to Make Chili Paste a.k.a "Cili Boh"

If you are a fan of Asian recipes, particularly South East Asian recipes, this homemade chilli paste is a very handy basic to have in your fridge. So many recipes call for a tablespoon here, a teaspoon there of chilli paste and rather than grinding it up from scratch or substituting it with fresh chillies, etc, make this paste, keep it in the fridge and not only will you have a time saving ingredient on your hands but your final dish will have a deeper, more well rounded flavour than when using fresh chillies.

The key to this homemade chilli paste is in the frying (tumis, in Malay) of the paste. The longer the cooking time, the deeper the flavour and I usually cook mine for about an hour.

There are so many ways to use this recipe, whether to make Nasi Goreng (Malay or Indonesian Fried Rice), Mee Goreng (Malay or Indian Fried Noodles) or to use it to marinate anything. I love having it as a condiment too, much like a dipping sauce or sambal, because that’s what it is, a sambal! Fancy a twist to your usual roast or spuds? Well, use a little of this to add a kick or with barbecue season almost upon us, as mentioned before, this is the perfect spicy marinade.

It is a pretty spicy paste, so when using this homemade chilli paste in another recipe, a small amount goes a long way. I love making a large batch and storing it in a sterilized jar (straight out of a dishwasher will do) for easily up to a month. And guess what? It makes the perfect gift for a foodie friend.

TIP: A chopper, blender or food processor is a must for this as all the ingredients are processed together, then fried.

Ingredients for homemade chilli paste

1. 100g dried red chilli, cut (with scissors) and soaked in hot water for about 20 minutes
2. 2 medium onions, chopped
3. 10 cloves garlic
4. 4 candlenuts or 5 macadamia nuts
5. 1 tsp palm or white sugar
6. Water as needed
7. 100ml vegetable oil for frying

Method

1. Drain the chillies and place everything apart from the oil, in a blender/food processor with enough water to get a smooth paste.
2. Heat the oil in a deep wok or saucepan, then fry the chilli paste on medium heat initially for about 5 minutes until fragrant.
3. Lower the heat and cook for about an hour, stirring every now and then.
4. Let cool and store in a clean jar in the fridge, lasts up to a month. You can even freeze until needed, in ice cube trays would be perfect, as you can use a little at a time as needed.

History of Chili (Capsicum)

Chillis, come in all shapes, sizes and colours ranging from tiny pointed extremely hot, birds eye chilli to the large mild fleshy peppers like the anaheim. Indigenous to Central and South America and the West Indies, they have been cultivated there for thousands of years before the Spanish conquest, which eventually introduced them to the rest of the world. Mexican cooking is one of the worlds oldest cuisines, the explorers of the New World brought back the tomatoes and peppers, red hot chillis, avocados, various beans, vanilla and chocolate, these flavours were to change the flavour of Europe.

Today there are probably 400 different chillis grown, and are one of the most widely cultivated crops today, grown from the Far East, China, Japan, Thailand and Indonesia to India to Mexico. Some of the more commonly available fresh chillis include jalapeño, serrano, poblano, yellow wax, birds eye, habarnero and cayenne are now being stocked by many stores and markets. If you cannot find the required chilli called for in a recipe try substituting with one of similar size and heat scale, or grow your own as they are as easy to grow as tomatoes especially in a greenhouse in pots. In the next few pages different varieties can be seen accompanied by a picture with recipes, sauces, snacks and growing advice and also where to purchase the seeds or chillis.