Red Jalapeño chili sauce with vinegar or Jalapeño thokku (Farm to Plate)

I grow several kinds of chilies, some of them spicy and used for cooking, some are not so spicy and used for making fritters and jalapeño wghich I grow mostly for making pickles (in vinegar) and also for making stuffed jalpaenos or even making a gravy.

In the height of summer, when everything needs to be harvested, peppers seem to be the ones left behind because they don't go bad. While most of the hot green chilies are harvested while green, sometimes I let them get red or ripen. I heard somewhere that they lose their heat as they start to ripen but the opposite is true. Some of these peppers start to get hotter (spicier) when they turn red.

I had left some of the jalapeño without harvesting for a while and I realized that they had ripened. I now have developed this habit of thinking like folks in Andhra do almost naturally is to wonder if I can make some kind of pickle with them. I tried to make Szchewan sauce with the ripened jalapeño and they turned out so much more milder than the hot red chilies and they were mistaken for a spread. So I decided to reduce the vinegar and eliminate the soy sauce and try making a spread with them.

Since these jalapeño also carry an underlying fruitiness to the taste they seem to be perfect for making a thokku or a spread to be used on breads or sandwiches. While they are really good as a spread they can be used as a chili sauce for sauteing vegetables or chicken.

A typical Indian version of the jalapeño thokku is here.

Recipe in pictures.

Cut the jalapeño into halves and removes the seeds and ribs.
Take the jalapeño in a blender jar and blend to a paste.
Cut onions and garlic. Heat oil in a wide mouthed pan and when hot, add the onions and garlic.
Saute the onions and garlic till they turn brown.
Add the blended jalapeños and cook till oil separates. Add salt. Add more oil if required. Finally finish with vinegar.

Works great as a spread.

Stuffed Peppers with black beans and rice
Preparation Time:20 minutes
Cooking Time:35 minutes
Ingredients

1. 3 cups of jalapeños
2. 1 cups of chopped red onions
3. 1/4 cup of chopped garlic
4. salt to taste
5. 2 tbsp of white distilled vinegar
6. 1 cup of oil (i used sesame oil)

Method

1. Slit the jalapeños in half and remove the seeds and ribs (use gloves while doing this).
2. Take the cleaned jalapeños in a blender or nutribullet and make a farily smooth paste.
3. In a wide mouthed pan (i used a clay pot) add about 1/2 cup of oil and when hot add in the garlic and onions and saute till they start to turn brown.
4. Add in the blended paste and cook till oil starts to separate and mixture looks shiny. Add salt and vinegar and cook for a few more minutes.
5. Cool and transfer the pickle to glass jars. Glass jars can be sterilzed by putting them in the microwave for about a minute.

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