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Smoked Chillies

Air-dried Chillies is a traditional Mexican recipe for a classic method of drying chillies by smoking on a barbecue. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic Mexican version of: Air-dried Chillies.

prep time

20 minutes

cook time

380 minutes

Total Time:

40 minutes

Additional Time:

(+2 hours drying)

Makes:

1 tin

Rating:

Tags : Chilli RecipesVegetarian RecipesMexico Recipes

Smoking chillies, to make chipotles is an excellent way of both flavouring and preserving chillies. It is an ancient method of preserving, going back to at least 200 CE in Mesoamerica. However, it was the Aztecs who brought this method of preserving to its pinnacle and introduced the world to chipotles.

For this method I will use a standard kettle barbecue, but you can also use an indoor hot smoker or a home-made hot smoker.

Ingredients:

1kg chillies, washed (I used piri-piris as there were loads in the garden)
200g wood chips (fruit wood, mesquite, hickory)

Method:

For all kinds of smoking it is recommended that you do not use resinous woods (ie pine) as these can impart an unpleasant 'medicinal' note to the food being smoked.

Place the charcoal on your barbecue (you need any type with a lid — a kettle barbecue is perfect) and light. Allow the coals to become hot for about 20 to 30 minutes. Place the wood chips in a large bowl, cover with water and set aside to soak.

Remove the stem ends from the chillies, split in half and scrape out the seeds (this gives more flavour); though for small chillies you can also smoke whole.

When the barbecue is hot, drain the wood chips and scatter 2/3 over the hot coals. Cover and when smoking put the split chillies on the grill. Cover the barbecue with a lid and allow the chillies to smoke for about 6 hours, or until essentially dry. During this time, top up the charcoal and the wood chips as needed to keep the fire and the smoke going.

At the end of the 6 hours remove the chillies and set aside to dry. Test them for dryness. If they snap rather than bending when flexed, they are dry. However, if not dry place in a very low oven for 2 hours and test for dryness again.

When dried, store in an air-tight tin out of the sun. Alternatively thread onto string and hang in your kitchen.

You can also prepare this recipe with a home-made hot smoker.