Grow Your Own Magazine

chilli & coriander jam

I've made one batch of this and it is really scrummy! I used a mixture of different tomatoes so feel free to be creative! Same goes for the chillis. For all you non-thai ingredients folk out there, fish sauce is not as gross as it sounds and is a good salt substitute. You won't get the same flavour without it, but it won't be fishy. Promise! Buy it in any supermarket in the thai/chinese stuff section. I bought the palm sugar in waitrose but large sainsburys do it too, in the special foods section. It is a different form of sugar: I guess you could substitute demerara or raw cane sugar. I followed the metric quantities as I don't do cups! I think I used less oil too and it did not seem to make it any less yummy.


8 large tomatoes (2kg), cored
2/3 cup (160ml) olive oil
10 cloves garlic, peeled
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
10 small fresh red Thai chillies, stems removed
2 tablespoons cumin seeds
2 tablespoons black mustard seeds
¾ cup (180ml) red wine vinegar
¼ cup (60ml) fish sauce
1 ¼ cups (335g) palm sugar, chopped
1 tablespoon ground turmeric
½ cup chopped fresh coriander leaves and roots

Rub tomatoes with olive oil; place in a roasting pan and cook in a moderate oven for about 30 minutes or until soft, but not coloured. Blend or process garlic, ginger, chillies and seeds until chopped and well combined. Transfer mixture to large heavy-base saucepan, add tomato, vinegar, fish sauce, sugar and turmeric; simmer, uncovered, about 2 hours or until thick. Blend or process, in batches, until combined but still textured. Return to heat for 5 minutes or until hot; stir in coriander leaves/stems. Spoon into hot sterilised jars; seal while hot.


MAKES about 1.5 litres (6 cups)
Per tablespoon 2.2g fat; 176KJ
Storage In cool, dry place for up to 6 months;
refrigerate after opening

Enjoy!!

Nicky

__________________
Saoirse: Irish meaning Freedom (I think!)

Sounds interesting - I would like to try some Thai cooking but being a veggie I don't do fish sauce, could you recommend a substitute?

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Manda.

"Wouldn't it be nice
For maybe an hour
To not have a care."

soy, but it will be different

I think that soy would be too strong a flavour: if you needed to leave it out I would just use some salt instead. Fish sauce is actually quite subtle once it is in the cooking, not nearly as intrusive as soy.

Nicky

__________________
Saoirse: Irish meaning Freedom (I think!)

Okay Nicky thanks - oh and I've just re-read the recipe properly (doh!) what is best if you can't get palm sugar? Oh and how hot are the chilli peppers?

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Manda.

"Wouldn't it be nice
For maybe an hour
To not have a care."

Wow that sounds delicious. I'm going to try it on the weekend!!!

Just thought of a question....you've got Corriander roots in the ingredients list but only stems and leaves in the instructions? Do you need to use the roots then or just stems?

Hi Missymoo! I used the whole lot of the coriander. Bought it from a local mediterranean shop (mine bolted!) and it came with roots and all, so I just whizzed the lot up.

As for the chillis, I used pretty hot ones (grade 4 and up) but it really depends on your taste. The finished product is quite spicy, but not over the top as the toms are sweet.

Not completely sure about substituting for the palm sugar, but I reckon raw cane sugar or maybe brown. I tasted the palm sugar and it reminds me of raw cane sugar, but perhaps slightly less sweet if that makes sense. It was the first time I had bought or used it, so an experiment.

The recipe is as it was in the book: I scanned it on the computer to save my typing fingers.

We've got through two large jars of the jam already, so I may have to make more! It's great with cheese and also added to pasta sauce. And also stirred into your own roasted veg: peppers and toms etc. Really nice!

Nicky

__________________
Saoirse: Irish meaning Freedom (I think!)