Ingredient of the month – Chilli!
I have many ingredients that I consistently turn to when I’m looking for inspiration, or a bit of a pick-me-up. And chilli is absolutely one such ingredient. Not the most popular ingredient with the French (they rather shy away from spicy food) I found myself sprinkling or slathering (in sauce form) it on whenever I felt homesick.
Hot finger chillies
And so I figured March to be a good month to celebrate this spicy little number. For those of us in the Northern Hemisphere, we’re looking towards the tail end of winter, but we might still have chilly (pun intended) weeks ahead. Adding a touch of chilli to wintry dishes is always a nice way of harnessing a bit of warmth whilst we wait for the weather to cheer up.
Fresh red chillies
As with most ingredients, fresh is best. If you can get your hands on fresh chillies (avoid wrinkly chillies – this is a sign that they’re not super fresh), you’ll really notice a difference – compared to powdered spices.
Now that I’m spending more time in London, I find myself cooking with chilli more often. And I’m also really just enjoying more generous chilli servings when dining out, too.
Be careful when handling Scotch bonnets
Where to start when choosing which chilli variety to buy? Don’t be fooled by the cute name, Scotch bonnet chillies really pack a punch. If your grocer advises you to wear gloves when handling certain chillies – always heed their advice! I find it helpful to keep a good quality nail brush at the kitchen sink, to avoid unfortunate painful eye situation after prepping chillies.
Some ingredients are great for experimenting with – but with chilli, you really need to know what you’re dealing with. Ask your grocer, or producer about the different varieties, and when it doubt, leave the seeds out (scrape them out with a teaspoon).
Chilli crab linguine recipe in my Evening Standard Column
You can’t go wrong with a delicious pasta with a bite of chilli (well, many things could go wrong if you add too much heat!). I love whipping up my chilli crab linguine. If you’re not a fan of crab meat you can substitute for other seafood.
Image thanks to BBC Worldwide
My new show ‘Rachel Khoo’s Kitchen Notebook: London’ is currently airing overseas via BBC Lifestyle. Have you tried any of my new recipes? One of my recipes from the ‘crowd pleasers’ episode is my Seafood Chilli in Tortilla Cups (I use dried chipotle chillies in this recipe). Nice for something a bit different when entertaining at home.
Image thanks to BBC Worldwide
Feeling a tad under the weather? Whip up this hearty cold-busting chicken broth with lemongrass, chilli and ginger. Chillies are packed with vitamins. Find the recipe in my Evening Standard Column here. And I thought this infographic explaining the health benefits of chillies was pretty cool ;)
Or for an even spicier soup, try my Spicy Lentil Soup recipe.
Here are other recipe ideas for dishes with a bit of a kick:
Jamie Oliver's Chilli Chocolate Truffles
