Hot Lava chilli paste

This chilli paste is like a solar eruption of flavour and inferno heat! And look, it's so pretty!!

I make lots of different chilli pastes depending on my mood or most likely on what ingredients I have to hand. This one is a favourite. Multiple scotch bonnet chillis lending a ferocious burn at the back of the mouth but not so wild as to be unbearable thanks to the orange pepper and other ingredients.

This stuff is great added to other dishes in small amounts. Stick a spoonful in some mayo for a fruity, chilli kick or in your favourite pasta sauce to take you to the moon!!

To make

3 red or orange scotch bonnet peppers
3 fat red jalapeños
1 big and bright orange bell pepper
5 cloves of garlic
½ a medium sized onion
10 macadamia nuts
2 tablespoons of oil for frying
½ a teaspoon of sea salt
1 teaspoon of white sugar
1 teaspoon of mustard seeds
1 tablespoon of white wine vinegar

Bang, let's get paste'y!

To make

First up, roughly chop all of the chillis, bell pepper, garlic and onion

Stick it in a blender, nothing fancy needed. Mine is rubbish to be frank and can still manage.

Give it a right good whizz up till paste like

The red jalapeños make it look very red at this point but fear not the simmering will bring back some fire orange!

Bang it in a pan on a low to medium heat and add your mustard seeds, salt, sugar and tablespoon of white wine vinegar.

Let that simmer for ten to fifteen minutes with the occasional stir.

Whilst simmering blitz up your macadamia nuts

And throw them timidly at the simmering lava pile that is your chilli paste, stir them in.

After the ten to fifteen minutes simmering the lava paste will be fairly dry-ish. Like below.

Take it off the heat and let it cool. Once cooled bang it in a jar.

Add some oil at this point

Now get using it, keep it in the fridge and it will last for at least a month. Probably longer but mine is used well before then!

You can even perch it on your window sill if it's not very sunny and bathe in its warm glow :0)