Dried Chillies

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zanuck
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Dried Chillies

Postby zanuck » Thu Nov 13, 2014 7:38 pm

Ok, today's naïve question...........

When using a dried chilli in cooking - the ones bought on a string in the market; or the smaller ones bought in a plastic bag for €1 also from the market - should they be soaked in water to rehydrate them before using for cooking, or simply chopped up and then used?



PS, not even sure if the spelling in my subject line is correct - doesn't look right with the "e" but similarly seems NQR without it. Someone will know.

El Cid
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Re: Dried Chillies

Postby El Cid » Thu Nov 13, 2014 8:43 pm

The dried ones on a string are called "Noras". They are really dried peppers and are not particularly hot. If you use them they are supposed to be soaked before using them.

You can buy fresh chillis in a lot of the supermarkets now - they used to be unobtainable. If you want heat and can't find fresh use the normal whole dried chillies that you will find in the spice racks.

Sid

zanuck
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Re: Dried Chillies

Postby zanuck » Thu Nov 13, 2014 8:50 pm

Sid
Thanks for the explanation about "Noras".

I've got whole (3cms) dried chillies in a bag from a market and chopped dried chillies in a jar from Eroski; made gambas pil pil this evening with 3 whole dried chillies which I cut up and found that the pil pil wasn't as "pil pil" as previous ones that I have made with say a teaspoonful of Eroski dried chopped chillies, which is why I was asking about the preparation if needed of the whole ones.

Sounds like I need to soak the whole ones first. Another experiment coming up!

Regards - Z

El Cid
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Re: Dried Chillies

Postby El Cid » Thu Nov 13, 2014 11:10 pm

The problem is that there are so many varieties of chillies with varying strength. There is no way of telling when you buy a pot of dried chillies.

Once you have found some and worked out just how many you need for a particular dish, just stick with them.

Personally I grow my own and prefer the Jalopeña chillies as they are reasonably mild so it is easier to judge how many you need. Some of the small chillies are so hot that just one can be too much.

If you find some fresh ones that suit you just buy a load of them and freeze them whole. That way they don't "freezer burn" and are easy to chop up even when frozen.

Sid

casita-bonita
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Re: Dried Chillies

Postby casita-bonita » Fri Nov 14, 2014 10:00 am

If you are a chilli fan you will be seriously disappointed by the fresh ones that you can buy in the shops and market stalls. The only real solution is to grow your own. Order your seeds from online from one of the many chilli specialists. Their website invariably list the Scoville (heat) rating of each variety and you can choose those that suit from mild to scorching.

Chill plants are easy to germinate and grow. They grow in pots quite happily, have no natural pests, are self pollinating. As long as you keep them watered they will produce fruit. Excess chillis can be frozen. When used from the freezer they no longer have the crunchy texture but importantly unlike dried chillis the full heat is retained.

Here in Spain most chilli plants will overwinter and produce even more fruit the following year and generally earlier than those newly germinated from seed.

Must admit to being a bit of a chilli head and this year I grew a dozen or so varieties including Scotch Bonnets, Habeneros (both very hot), Fire (super hot) and Nagas (ridiculously hot) along with a few not so hot like Aji Lemon and a couple of Thai varieties.

Already have seeds for more varieties next year and treated myself to a heated propagator in order to get them started off a bit earlier in the season.
Regards

Bob

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Re: Dried Chillies

Postby luckyjim » Fri Nov 14, 2014 11:38 am

Well casita bonita nice to hear from a like minded person! Whenever I go back to England I make a B Line for an Ethnic shop and buy a selection, bring them back , dry them and plant the seeds. Great. You must try smoked chilli powder, amazing. Look at web page for a Company in England called Spice Mountain. I found them earlier this year.

zanuck
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Re: Dried Chillies

Postby zanuck » Fri Nov 14, 2014 12:17 pm

luckyjim
The Spice Mountain site looks interesting.

In June whilst still in the UK, I bought Chipotle Powder from an ebay seller "fruishion" - £2.29 for 50gr with free UK postage. They have loads of other products too, well worth a look.

zanuck
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Re: Dried Chillies

Postby zanuck » Fri Nov 14, 2014 12:21 pm

casita-bonita

Thanks for the tips about growing my own.
Will they grow successfully in the UK indoors in pots?

Z

casita-bonita
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Re: Dried Chillies

Postby casita-bonita » Fri Nov 14, 2014 12:37 pm

I believe they should be fine as long as they get enough sunlight. Of course indoors you can start them off earlier as the internal temperature will be higher than outdoors.


I have bought seeds from both these guys

http://www.seaspringseeds.co.uk/

http://www.sowchillies.co.uk/chilli-seeds/

http://www.pepperseeds.eu

This year the Dorset and Bengle Nagas were very disappointing. But first time I've grown Nagas and lessons have been learned for next year. For the nuclear heat my Monster Nagas and 7Pots more than made up for it tho'.

Bit less heat my Antillas Caribbean and Paper Lanterns did really well.

Fire ( 2 x Scotch Bonnet scu) also cropped well

My missus has handed over a whole drawer in the freezer for my chillis....

For next year Have some Muruga Scorpion seeds for next year and early Dec will order a few more e.g Bhut Jolokia and probably a couple of chocolate varieties for colour.
Regards

Bob

El Cid
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Re: Dried Chillies

Postby El Cid » Fri Nov 14, 2014 12:50 pm

This is another seed supplier that I have used.

http://www.southdevonchillifarm.co.uk/s ... eds-1.html

Sid

casita-bonita
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Re: Dried Chillies

Postby casita-bonita » Fri Nov 14, 2014 1:07 pm

Had some of their seeds aswell, the Antillais Carribbean produced very good crop. They don't have the variety of superhots that the other two do tho'
Regards

Bob

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Re: Dried Chillies

Postby Lyric » Fri Nov 14, 2014 2:20 pm

When you grow them are they OK in full Spanish sun, partial shade or just about anywhere ?

casita-bonita
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Re: Dried Chillies

Postby casita-bonita » Fri Nov 14, 2014 4:20 pm

Most varieties, well of the ones that I have grown seem to be happy enough in full sun. You soon find the ones that aren't as they start to wilt and look sad even though the compost is moist. Just move those to a position where they are shaded from the really hot afternoon sun. Ultimately I had them in partial shade as that was the only place I could shelter them from wind( we're up in the mountains) and quite exposed).. All it takes is one good gust to blow a pot over. I lost a Big Sun Habenero that had loads of unripe chillis on. Wind blew it over and plant snapped right down at soil level.

In peak summer they will need to be watered twice a day... The plants that I had in the ground needed three waters a day, probably because our soil rubbish. I plan to try and improve that with bags of compost where I want to grow them. But I will still do pots as for me this year the chillis in pots did far better then those directly in the ground, again probably the crap soil.
Regards

Bob

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Re: Dried Chillies

Postby Manchesteral » Sat Nov 15, 2014 8:20 pm

Sid, do you have an address for seed suppliers in Holland ? I might be interested in growing something :-)

El Cid
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Re: Dried Chillies

Postby El Cid » Sat Nov 15, 2014 10:10 pm

No, I have only bought from the Devon company.

Sid

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Re: Dried Chillies

Postby casita-bonita » Sun Nov 16, 2014 10:10 am

They post to Spain so I guess they will also post to Holland.
Regards

Bob


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