Naga Chilli Relish – Best made outside!

After the garden apprentice discovering his favourite curry of all time, is made with Naga chillies. Guess what I’m now growing? Yes, Naga’s.

Growing Naga Chillies

I bought the seeds mid-season last year and had a bit of trouble with germination. I ordered two varieties, ‘Yellow Blaze’ which as the name suggests are yellow and a classic red ’Norfolk Naga’.

I didn’t get any Norfolk Nagas to germinate at all and only managed one yellow blaze. It was slow to grow as chillies are but it got to reasonable size and I managed to keep it going through the winter.

In the new year I ordered more seeds of the two varieties and sowed them, again hopeless!

Luckily the ‘yellow blaze’ I’d nurtured through winter now had a couple of fruits on. When they were ripe I pinched some fresh seed, sowed it, and germination happened quickly.

As a result we now have a good few yellow blaze naga’s, so it was time to find a recipe.

Cooking with Naga’s – Let’s go Outside.

All the recipes I found for naga based curries used a naga pickle, so that’s what we are making today.

When the garden apprentice makes his Hot Habanero Chilli Sauce, we both end up choking, so as Naga’s are even hotter than habanero’s I’ve decided to take the portable electric hob outside!

Assemble what you need

You will need: a saucepan, wooden spoon, a liquidiser, and a mask.

You will need a jar or two, which will have to have been sterilised.

Pick and rinse the chillies. Allow a while as it takes longer than you think!

As I had some red Jalapeño’s and some purple Buena Mulata chillies ready, I’ve added a couple of them for a bit of colour.

Ingredients

• 200g Chillies – approximately
• 8-10 tbsp Rape seed Oil
• 2tsp Mustard seeds
• 1tsp Nigella seeds or onion seeds
• 1/2 tsp Fuengueek
• 1/4 tsp Cumin seeds
• 6 cloves Garlic
• 1 tsp Sugar
• 1/2 tsp Salt
• 1 heaped tsp Smoked Paprika
• 1 heaped tsp Ground Coriander
• 1/2 tsp Ground Ginger
• 4-6 tbsp White wine or Cider Vinegar

Method

Chop up the chillies, I always wear a gloves on my left hand for this, but I’ll leave that up to you. Put them to one side.

Measure out the mustard seeds, ground fenugreek, cumin seeds and onion seeds into a bowl.

Crush the garlic and place into another bowl, and finally measure the smoked paprika, ground coriander and ginger into another bowl. You are ready to go.

Pop the pan onto the hob and pour in the oil.

Next add the mustard seed mix. Let it sizzle and pop for a minute, then add the garlic.

Allow the garlic to just start to colour then add the rest of the spices.

Stir them in and while they are cooking through for a minute, put your mask on (I highly recommend this, even outside!) and add the chillies.

Cook for around 10 minutes stirring regularly. Add more oil if you think you need it.

Add the salt and sugar and give a quick stir.

Finally add the vinegar and bubble for a further couple of minutes. It should now be looking dark and sticky.

You can leave it like this and just bottle up, but I chose to give it a quick whizz in the liquidiser.

Carefully place in your chosen jars, and screw the lid on immediately.

This will last for weeks in the fridge, ready for when you’re making a nice hot Naga curry. Recipe to follow.

Happy Cooking.