Chilli Jelly

When we were harvesting the red cabbages from the allotment last year we bought a big box of Bramley apples to use in the annual production line of ‘red cabbage with apples’ which we make to use throughout the year.

Because there were quite a few apples over, and we are not great pudding eaters when no one is visiting us, I cooked down a couple of batches and froze it to use in a chilli jelly, and finally last week I got round to making the first batch.

Here is how I made my Chilli Jelly.

Roughly cut up the apples, do not peel or core, wash them well first and cut out any bruised bits, put them in a pan,  adding enough cold water just to cover them. Bring to the boil and them simmer for about 30 mins or until the fruit is very pulpy.

(It was at this stage that I froze mine because I was too busy to carry on just then)

The whole contents of the pan should now be put through a clean jelly bag, or if you are making a tiny amount a couple of layers of butter muslin lining a colander, making sure that the bottom of the colander in well clear of the juice that comes through. Do not prod it or squeeze the bag if you want a clear jelly.

However, when you are making a lot of jelly it can be a long affair, so now I pour the whole panful of fruit and liquid through a normal kitchen sieve over a large bowl or saucepan, don’t force it through in any way. Keep the liquid that runs through the sieve in a cool place. I have a fairly coarse nylon jelly bag, bought in error I thought at the time, but the solid contents from the sieve are hung up in this bag, and because it’s quite coarse the extract will come through more quickly, and you can give it a prod and a squeeze to help it on it’s way and to get out as much extract as possible. Then using a jelly bag made from very closely woven fabric strain through it the liquid that came from the first jelly bag, and the liquid that ran through the sieve. It will run through quite quickly because so much of the solids have gone and will eventually give a crystal clear jelly. This sounds like a real effort as it reads, but believe you me it saves an awful lot of time when you put it into practice.

The next thing to do is to measure the amount of extract you have and put it into your preserving pan, adding 450g sugar,(I use ordinary granulated), to each half litre liquid (1lb to a pint) I added 7 dried red chillies to my 2 litres of extract. Bring it slowly to the boil, stirring to make sure all the sugar has dissolved before it actually does come to the boil. Let it boil for about 30 minutes, but check for a set after 20/25 mins and every few minutes thereafter when you think it’s near setting point. If it takes longer to reach a setting point just keep testing it until it does. My apples made 5 1lb jars and a half jar over.  Because you have added dried chillies after straining the liquid you will get a few chilli seeds and it won't be as clear as using fruit alone.

Fish out the dried chillies and pour the jelly into warmed jars. Well sealed it will keep unopened for at least a couple of years, somewhere out of bright light and fairly cool is best.

For years I have made all my preserves in a very big commercial size pot, not a proper preserving pan. Having bought one last year which has a measuring gauge on the inside I noticed that my 2 litres of liquid rose to 3 litres when I added the sugar, and the level was back at 2 litres when it set. I don’t know whether this is a formula in any way, but believe I did read once that you can weigh the pan to check it’s setting point. Maybe I should have a go with a sugar thermometer which could do away with some of the testing.

The rampant climbing rose Himalayan Musk is in full flower on one of the garden walls at the moment, the scent is wonderful, especially in the evening.

I made a second batch of chilli jelly on the following Saturday morning, using the rest of the frozen apple and this time, having since read a post about redcurrant jelly in the English Kitchen blog I thought I would see what it would be like if I just tipped the whole lot through a seive, no jelly bags.

It's quite a lot lighter in colour, less depth of apple flavour, and a little more cloudy, it did save a bit of time, but because the stewed apple is quite dense the liquid didn't rush through the seive.  The most time was saved by not having to wash the jelly bags.  I will experiment with something like blackcurrants.