This Years Chilli Harvest
Now what?!!!!…..
Well, here it is, the sum total (almost) of my efforts in the chilli growing season. This is my winter harvest, dried and ready for the cold months past ahead and for some seriously warming curries, soups, stews and tagines. This isn’t all of them, there are still jolokia and habanero plants with fruits ripening in the greenhouse whilst others have been given to friends and spongeing brother 
Others went into a fine pickle and the padrons were devoured with gusto on a warming garden terrace.
What I shall do with those jolokia’s I am not sure, all joking aside, a young man from Deby (England) died recently after eating a chilli con carne spiked with incredibly hot chillies. My absolute favourites are the longer chillies with a moderate heat level, deep, glossy red they add so much to a curry and it’s so superior to a standard shop bought chilli powder that I cannot recommend them enough.
I have a ton of birds eye to get through, I’ll save those for curry pastes and the pusa jwala are much better than I thought they would be; pretty fierce at their green stage but develop plenty of flavour as they ripen.
I love the orange habanero, it looks stunning and the taste is pleasantly fruity though still very hot. Wether I grow any next year I am not sure, I think milder ones will be more appropriate and especially the wonderful Joe Long variety which is my absolute favourite.
Miles
what a fantastic crop - unbelievable !
I can certainly vouch for the quality of those you gave me - superb !
Rod
October 17, 2008 @ 7:49 am
Miles,
.
Absolutely superb and a credit to you. Bags me have any leftovers - I don’t mind the ready made paste either
A feast for the eye and very satisfying for the winter store cupboard.
Elsie
October 17, 2008 @ 9:11 am
Wonderful harvest !!
I won;t mind taking a load off your back…LOL
Seriouslly speaking, you may freeze them .
If you still have a problem, I don’t mind helping you out.
I am in Detroit.
NJA
October 17, 2008 @ 3:16 pm
Elsie,
You have to admire a man who owns Kilner jars….. bet that’s not on many dating club cv’s, should be though
Cid
October 17, 2008 @ 3:43 pm
Miles,
A fine harvest. I’d be delighted if anything I grew fruited that well. Next year I must do better and actually look after my crop instead of bunging it in and hoping for the best
Cid
October 17, 2008 @ 3:48 pm
Cid,
He has ways in putting us to shame at times
Elsie
October 17, 2008 @ 5:26 pm
All,
Thankyou! Sorry for not replying individually but I’m shattered, and that’s the long and the short of it.
I’m off to explore the ‘land of nod’ now, it looks very appealing from where I’m sat
Miles
October 17, 2008 @ 9:25 pm
Naga Jolokia Addict,
Welcome to the site!
I admire your enthusiasm for the king of chillies, you’re braver than I am.
I like your site and will return to see what you write about in the future.
Kind regards
Miles
October 17, 2008 @ 9:41 pm
Miles, if you’re interested in mildly hot chillies with lots of flavor, may I recommend a couple of favorites? Czechoslovakian Black is a Jalapeño-shaped pepper with a sweet/fruity/hot flavor, especially after it ripens to dark red. Aci Sivri is a yellow-green cayenne-shaped pepper with very mild heat, but a similar fruity flavor. Oh, and then there’s Ají Dulce - all the flavor of habanero and none of the heat.
Interestingly, I first read on a local central Virginia blog about the young man who died after eating chillies. They linked back to a newspaper story in the UK.
October 18, 2008 @ 3:01 pm
Entangled,
They sound lovely, I love cayenne’s, they are so useful and tasty. I think I can get Aji Dulce over here so I will look out for them. Thanks for the tip.
Miles
October 18, 2008 @ 3:44 pm