How To: Dry Chilli Peppers and Make Your Own Chilli Flakes
An easy guide on how to dry CHILLI PEPPERS without a dehydrator and make your own CHILLI FLAKES at home
Homemade Chilli Flakes can be a pretty gift too :)
You may have seen my post from a week or so ago showing a bunch of red CHILLI PEPPERS I had picked from my garden with the intent of drying for storage and recording the process in the meantime, so I could share it here with you.
Now those CHILLIES are done (well, most of them) and I just made my first batch of CHILLI FLAKES. I’m super stoked with the result – not only they taste and smell a lot nicer and fresher than shop-bought varieties, the colour and texture of this homemade version is way more vibrant and inviting too. They will be great in cooking and will also look gorgeous sitting on the table as a condiment to sprinkle on meals.
I’ve opted for drying the harvested CHILLIES in two ways – the first half I kept whole and hung from a long piece of twine in the kitchen, whereas the second lot was cut in half and rested on a tray, and then placed in the hot water cupboard. Cutting CHILLIES in half were by far the fastest method - one week later and they are done, whereas the ones left whole are still at least halfway there. Seeing the weather in Auckland has now taken a turn to wet and cold, I’ve also moved the string of CHILLIES from the kitchen to the hot water cupboard, and will let them finish drying in there instead, even though I liked seeing my pretty CHILLIES first thing every morning. In case the weather is hot and dry where you are, you can choose where to hang them, as long as there’s no humidity.
Just in case you may be wondering why I haven’t dried the whole lot using the fast method, the answer to that is even though I mostly use dried chillies in my cooking in the form of CHILLI FLAKES, I like to keep some of them whole, as sometimes recipes will require them this way, such as chilli oils and curry pastes. I’ll make sure to share some recipes for these also, as I put mine to use.
HOW TO DRY CHILLI PEPPERS
HARVEST: If harvesting for drying make sure to cut chillies which are ripe and red all over (no green patches), making sure to keep stalks intact.
CLEAN: Wipe chillies with a clean tea towel. If washing, make sure to dry chillies thoroughly before moving on to the next step.
3. PREPARE: Cut each chilli in half lengthwise, and place cut side up on a tray. Place tray in a dry and dark room, or by the hot water cupboard. Alternatively, tie each chilli to a long piece of string and hang in a dry place.
4. CHECK: Check chillies every couple of days until they have shrivelled and are completely dried.
5. STORE: Chillies can be stored whole or made into Chilli Flakes.
MAKE YOUR OWN CHILLI FLAKES
Remove green stalks and discard.
Remove most seeds from chillies into a bowl and reserve.
3. Brake dried chillies into 2 or 3 smaller pieces and using a pestle and mortar or spice grinder, grind until flaked (you could also use a sharp knife).
4. Place CHILLI FLAKES in a clean jar. Return all, most or some of the reserved seeds to the flakes (the more seeds you add, the hotter it’ll be – I usually add about ¾ of seeds back, but it depends of the type of chillies I’m using in the first place. Also, you could separate the flakes into two of three containers and add a different amount of seeds to each, to make milder or hotter versions). Shake jar to combine seeds to flakes. Store in a dry place.
