How to make dried red chilies - Dried Red Chilies - Farm grown

Chilies are easy to grow. The biggest problem is harvesting them. I sometimes delay harvesting them because of lack of time. So they start to ripen. I had no idea how dried red chilies are made until one year DH's cousin was visiting from India. She suggested that we make dried chilies with the ripened ones. I wasn't too confident since we were already in late September and thought how it is ever going to dry but decided to give it a shot anyway to not disappoint her :)

I needn't have worried. The chilies just need to be air dried. In about 30-40 days they dried up pretty nicely and were ready to be packed to be used throughout the year. I am thankful to her to this day.

I live in a country where we finish harvest in September when it is Fall, the temperatures falls and the sun is not as hot so completely sun drying is not possible. If you are able to sun dry, dried chillies should be ready in about 2 weeks. Make sure it is nice and dry before packing it up.

There was a time in the not too distant past, US has banned imports of green chilies due to pesticide residue beyond acceptable levels. Why would you want to risk that for something that can be easily grown? 2-3 plants should provide you with enough chilies to last a year.

It is easy to freeze green chilies and I learned another method of preserving green chilies which is to steam and dry. This is good for areas where it is not possible to keep things frozen without interruption.

Fresh harvested Red Chilies

Spread the harvested red chilies in a wide tray or carboard box in a single layer.

The chilies will start to shrivel up in a few days.

Dried Red Chilies

Depending on the intensity of the sun the red chilies should be ready in 2- 4 weeks depending on the intensity of the sun and where you are drying it.
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