My dad’s had a bumper crop of chillies this year, so I offered to take a few off his hands so I could make some chilli jam.
I’ve never tried making it before, but love love love eating it! I’ve previously bought the Tracklements version which is delicious spread in cheese sandwiches, or as a dipper for sausages.
I attempted a couple of different recipes to see which would make the best, and it was Nigella’s version that came up trumps. There’s minimal fuss and no sieving involved.
The resulting jam is more of a jelly, vivid and fiery red with tiny flecks of pepper. It’s not overly spicy to be honest, just a bit of warmth but it’s packed with flavour, so it won’t blow your head off.
The only fiddly bit is preparing the chillis – my advice is to wear disposable gloves, or failing that use a fork to steady the chilli rather than your fingers while cutting and deseeding.
I’m going to give a few jars as Christmas gifts and donate some to the home made gifts stall at Sam’s school Christmas fair.
Chilli jam ready for market!
I packaged my batch up with the impressive range of home made gift supplies from Lakeland. They’ve got loads of gorgeous jars, ribbons, labels and pretty much everything you need to give your treats that professional look.
Chilli Jam (Nigella Lawson)
150g fresh red chilli peppers, halved, quartered and deseeded
150g red bell pepper, halved, quartered and deseeded
1kg jam sugar
600ml cider vinegar
6 x 250ml sealable jars with vinegar-proof lids
1. Wash up your jars in warm soapy water, rinse in hot water then air dry in a low oven.
2. Put the chillies into a food processor and whizz until finely chopped. Then add the bell pepper and pulse again until it’s all blitzed.
3. Put the sugar and vinegar into a medium-sized pan and dissolve over a low heat – swirling not stirring.
4. Add the blitzed peppers into the pan, turn up the heat and boil for 10 minutes. Take off the heat and cool for about 40 minutes when the liquid will have thickened to a syrupy consistency.
5. Ladle into your jars and seal tightly. Allow to cool completely and then label.
Let’s make Christmas
I’ll also be reserving one of these jars for a very special event at Fortnum & Mason’s being organised by Vanessa of Prepped fame.
It’s a food blogger gift swap where we all take a home made treat that is judged by top baker Dan Lepard. There’s then a very posh raffle where we all get to take home someone else’s gift complete with recipe.
these look great. I made some apple chilli jelly last week but they look nowhere near as impressive as these!
thanks Helen – I was really chuffed with how vibrant the jelly turned out – tastes great too. Like the sound of apple chilli jelly 🙂
I had a bit of a problem with it at first, the pectin in the apple is supposed to make it set but not sure if I had the wrong type of apples or maybe not enough juice but it didn’t set, so I reboiled it with pectin the 2nd time & also added some vinegar which made it taste better…the end result was finally a good one though!
How utterly … Perfect … i will have to make some.
x
it’s delish Vanessa!
this looks delicious. I love the fact that Nigella recipes really work and are so scrummy! I am wondering hard what I am going to make for Vanessa’s event!
Yes it’s quite nerve wracking isn’t it – i’m sure there are going to be some amazing entries!
OoooooOOoooooo that looks wonderful, – love the colour.. I shall be experimenting!!
Let me know how you get on!
Your packaging is gorgeous! I need to make some of this, I have an enormous bag of chillis in the freezer from my friend’s greenhouse and they need to be put to good use.
Really really wish I could take part in Let’s Make Christmas, it sounds like such fun. But I live in deepest darkest Wiltshire, nowhere near Fortnums 🙁
aw that’s a shame that you can’t make the Fortnum’s event – should be fun. Def get those chillis out the freezer… I’m eating my way through the jam very quickly – have had to hide the prettily packaged stuff so I don’t break into it!
Wow, they look really impressive.
thanks michele – it’s supereasy so def have a go!
Love chilli jam, such a wonderful flavour…..Mmmmmm!
Just like to say it tastes as yummy as it looks. Thanks Katie xx
As you know I’m pretty partial to a good chutney too, but I have to say that this chilli jam is the nicest preserve I have ever tasted in my entire life!!! And it looks so beautiful too. We are down to the last scrapings in the jar that you gave us (well gave Clyde actually – I’ve had more than my fair share!) so I think I might just have to try and make some for myself……will report back!
glad it went down so well Jen – let me know how you get on making it!
Its about time some boys waded in with some opinions here 😉
I have twins and neither of them will appreciate chilli jam yet, particularly my daughter who doesn’t even like ginger, much to our dismay. We do however have a very abundant chilli bush outside our kitchen and a number of friends who are partial to hot food so I will give your chilli jam a go and report back. I think I will have to wear asbestos gloves as our chillis are monstrously hot. My indian colleague at work couldn’t handle them and he knows his chillis. Without their seeds they are manageable.
Hi Daniel – thanks for commenting – boys are always welcome at Feeding Boys 😉 Yes I’d definitely recommend wearing a pair of protective gloves when handling chillies or using a fork to hold the chilli instead of your fingers. The amount of times i’ve unthinkingly rubbed my eye after chopping a chilli – even after washing my hands – and being stung! The jam is really not that spicy and is very easy to make – hope you like it! My kids wouldn’t touch the stuff either sadly… maybe when they’re older.
Making this as we speak, I have just starting marking jams so thought I would try this. Getting ready for Christmas!!!
Yay – hope it turns out well for you! It’s my favourite home made gift as it’s such a lovely vivid colour and always so well received.
Hi I’ve been looking for a chilli jam recipe and this sounds fab, it’s my first chilli crop and they are all green can this jam be made with the green chillies and green pepper? Have you tried?
I haven’t tried Angela, but I’m sure it’s worth having a try. Let me know how you get on!