Chili paste or chili boh (homemade)

We love eating food like curry which requires chili paste but I find it very tiresome to grind chili paste every time I want to use it, so I make a large batch and freeze it so that it is ready whenever I want to cook a dish that needs chilli paste. I remember when I was young we had to grind chilli paste using a ‘batu giling’. It was hard work and I don’t know how much sweat dripped into the chilli. Thank goodness nowadays we have the blender to make life easier but the older folks swear that the taste cannot be the same.

 Dried chillies (干红辣椒) are used in many international cuisines and come in many shapes, sizes, colors and heat levels. The main component in chillies is a chemical called Capsaicin, which is responsible for the intense heat felt. Several studies have also indicated that capsaicin has powerful anti-cancer properties. Often overlooked as circulation boosters, chillies can have a dramatic impact on your health by helping to boost circulation and also act as a thinner to help protect against strokes. They are also rich in vitamin A, vitamin c as well as minerals such as iron and potassium. If you have a cold, eating a good hot curry will help to open the nasal passages with almost immediate relief of congestion. It has been suggested that people in hot countries eat more chilli because it makes them sweat, which helps to cool them down. Eating food with chillies is all you need to do to enjoy the multiple and important health benefits they have to offer.

Ingredients

100 gms dried chilli

About 25 shallots

12 cloves garlic

3 stalks serai (lemon grass)

4 buah keras (candlenut)

A small piece of ginger

Cut the dried chilli into small pieces so that it is easy to remove the seeds

Put the cut chilli into a colander and place on a plate

Shake the colander so that the seeds will drop onto the plate

Put the chilli into a pot of water and boil for 5 minutes

Boiling the chilli makes it softer for blending and also removes the raw taste of the chilli

When the chilli is ready drain the water and shake off any more seeds put aside

Put the shallots into a bowl of water to prevent tearing (crying) when peeling it

Cut the shallots into small pieces so that it is easier to blend

Similarly cut the garlic, ginger and serai

Lightly smash the buah keras

Put all the cut ingredients into a bowl and mix it up

Get ready to blend all the ingredients

First put about 100 mls water into the blender

Alternatively you can put in the water used for boiling the chilli

Adding the water first makes it easier for the blender to work

Next add the softened chilli and then the cut ingredients

Turn on the blender and let it run until it is a smooth paste

As you can see there is no mess

Empty the chilli paste into a basin and stir to mix it thoroughly

Put the basin into the fridge for ½ an hour for the chilli to set

This will make it easier to pack later

Prepare the packing bags by marking it

4 = 4 tsp of chilli paste

2 = 2 tsp of chilli paste

It is up to you how many spoons to put into each pack

Here you can see the chilli paste is set like a gel

Put the stated amount of chilli paste into the prepared bags

I normally like to staple the packs and flatten it so that they do not take up too much space in the freezer

Another way to secure the packs is to use rubber bands to tie them

Put the packets into a container and pop it into the freezer ready for future use