Chilli and Ginger Jam great for gifts

Posted 2012-12-21 by Shannon Meyerkort ⇒ follow

This is a modified version of Masterchef Julie Goodwin’s recipe, so you know it’s going to be good.

In my version I have turned down the heat, tweaked the sweetness and upped the quantities. This makes about four to five cups, so by putting it into decorative jars, it makes a great gift.

Its hot and sweet, like the perfect man

Because this is a sweet and savoury jam it tastes brilliant on cheese platters, with Christmas ham and turkey, added to stir-fries and sandwiches.

Preparation Time: 30 minutes
Cooking Time: 90 minutes
Makes: 4-5 cups

Ingredients
Four large red capsicums, cut into large flat pieces
3 long red chillies, chopped roughly
3 heaped tablespoons of garlic (fresh or jar)
1 large piece of fresh ginger (10 cm), peeled and diced
1 red onion, diced
250g Demerara sugar (or brown sugar)
2/3 cup apple cider vinegar (or any type of vinegar)
¼ cup fish sauce

Method

Try and make the slices as equal and flat as possible

Line an oven tray with aluminium foil and lay the capsicum slices in a single later. You might need to do two batches. Put the capsicum under a hot grill until the skills is very black and blistered. The blacker the better, as the skin will come of more easily. Once it is out of the grill, place in a plastic bag or wrap in a tea towel for ten minutes to cool and steam.

Slip off the skin and chop into rough pieces.

You can boost the heat by using the birdseye chillies if you prefer

Place the chillies (with or without seeds, I usually keep the seeds of at least two of the chillies), the garlic, the chopped ginger and the capsicum into a food processor with about a tablespoon of water and process til there are no longer large pieces. You can stop when everything is in finely chopped, or keep going to make it completely smooth.

Throw everything in the food processor

Pour everything into a large saucepan, add the sugar and vinegar and stir to combine. Bring to the boil and then simmer over a low heat for an hour. You will need to stir it every 5 to 10 minutes to make sure it does not stick.

After an hour it will have reduced down considerably. Pour in the fish sauce and simmer for another 30 minutes. As it thickens you will need to keep an eye on it, and stir regularly so that it does not stick.

The jam is ready when it is sufficiently thick so when you stir it, you can see the bottom of the saucepan momentarily.

Pour into sterilised jars and be prepared to make another batch in a few weeks when everyone starts asking when you’re making some more.