Sweet Chilli Jam

I was first introduced to sweet chilli jam years ago when I visited Australia to see my mum's sister Aunty Raina Ruri and her whanau.  She was renowned for whipping up a 3 course meal with literally only a handful of ingredients in her pantry.  She may not have had fresh herbs or fresh stock, but what she did have was the initiative to get depth of flavour by using what she had.   It was no problem to throw in some chutney or tomato sauce to give her casserole a little lift.

I've pretty much had a jar of sweet chilli jam in my pantry.  It's great to add to stews, as a dipping solution with some home made dim sims or even poured over some sour cream as a quick dip with some corn chips or vegetable sticks when unexpected visitors arrive and it turns into afternoon drinks.

The amount of chillies used is really up to you.  The more you have, the hotter the sauce and although I state to use red chillies, I've used long green chillies as well, as it's turned out perfect!!!

Ingredients
12 - 20 long red chillies
2 whole heads of garlic, cloves peeled
2 large pieces of ginger - about 200 grams
5 cups of caster sugar
1 cup of water
1 cup of white wine vinegar
1/4 cup of fish sauces
Zest and juice of 8 limes.

Method
Get a pot that big enough to hold all the ingredients.

Chuck the chillies, garlic and ginger into a food processor and pulse until finely chopped.

Add the chilli mixture into the pot with the remaining ingredients and stir over a medium heat until the sugar is dissolved.  Once the sugar is dissolved bring to boil until the sauce is reduced by a third.  This should take about 20 mins.

Pour into sterilised jars.

Makes approximately 1200 mls.

Happy learning peeps!