Grinding your own red hot chilli peppers

Right then,

So I grew nine plants this summer which miraculously in spite of the absence of sun turned a nice red colour. Got hundreds of them in the end. No idea what to do with them, so Googled about and on the "Its Not Easy Being Green" forum I got some ideas.

I dried them on a baking rack on my tile stove for weeks then just recently decided to grind them. After I got the seeds out of them (can one sow these next year?) I ended up with this pile of red skins on a plate.

After much faffing, I ended up grinding the skins coarsely in a pestle and mortar then put them in an old electric coffee grinder. Thus the kitchen became full of fine red chili dust. Some of it slightly burns my fingers now and the other bit has gone up my nose. It all tingles a bit! Now I am going to try my own chili con carne. Any recipes? (ah bugger shoulda put this in "Cookery")

Those of you who thought I was about to rant about that excellent band of the same name which I think are brilliant, consider yourselves tricked by this thread header! And for once can those keyboard happy mods please leave this header unchanged?

you just wasted 30 secs of my life

hey very interesting topic jeremy, similarly I like the band under the same name. That being said were chili's that easy to grow? my girlfriend read that habanero where a easy plant to maintain. So can I ask a couple of obvious questions, such as: where did you get the seeds? how much space did such an endeavor require? How much time and such would one have to invest?

Never grown plants before except for a tree I used to have as a child. So I know more than nothing about the subject matter yet less than... Anyway if you could give me some pointing in the right direction that would be great. I have come to find that I may need an abundance of chilis in my life as the local ones (besides the habs) are lacking in flavor.

I'd heard that this year was a bad one for chilis (usually get some Habaneros from a friend who orders them on the Internet, but she's having problems getting them this year).

Personally I wouldn't have bothered to grind them - I just slice them into strips and then dry them at 50° in the oven for about half an hour. Oh, and avoid going to the toilet for a few hours afterwards. I've tried several tricks to neutralise the capsaicin left on my fingers, and so far nothing has worked.

Chili con carne is pretty easy to make. Use some ground coriander and a little cumin, and of course lots of that chili, and cook over a low heat for a good few hours to let the flavour develop. If you're adding beans and/or corn, do that 15 minutes before serving, along with some coarsely-cut fresh coriander leaves.

Yum. Roll on, Mexican night!

Iain they are unbelievably easy to grow. I got mine ready started in a seedling tray from a plant flea market "Pflanzenflohmarkt" from a village near us in spring. I selected nine strong plants, then grew three in three 30cm pots. They gre on the south wall of my house so got lots of sun to ripen. I also grew thirteen tomato plants in similar large pots, and two capsicum green pepper plants which were easy.

I am also an amateur in this green living thing. I am particularly a fan of the "Its Not Easy Being Green" website forum which I find inspiring. There was a BBC series of that name. Google for that.

I learned tons tis year which was my first for growing vegetables. Had a lot of failures and some success which I shall later write about.

Again as I said chilis are extremely easy to grow in the warm Bavarian summers here. Next year I hope to try ginger, coriander and cumin too. All good fun.

Being British I havent much knowledge of the world of chilis. What are habaneros? My knowledge comes from their use in Indian cookery which I used to do a lot of when living in the Middle East.

@Matt T: rinsing your hands in vinegar or lemon juice and then washing them tends to help, although it doesn't quite neutralize the spiceyness.

Well I just weighed this years harvest and there is now 26 grammes of the powder sitting in a jar waiting to be used tonight!

Scratch your balls and then have some real fun.

habeneros are referred to as scotch bonnets in britain I do beleive however wiki is your friend. They are probably the hottest common pepper available, and they still have a nice flavor to them as well.

Well I just ate what was in fact my first ever self cooked chili cn carne and put in about a third of a teaspoon of the stuff given that I ate with the kids. It was a success! Gentle heat from the chillis was fantastic.

Not the first time I shall cook this.

You must be talking about soup. Beans or corn do not belong in Chili con Carne. "Carne" does not mean corn, or beans. It means meat. "con" means "with".
Use gloves. I prefer the plastic types that bakers use.
Hope this helps,
take care,
space

So by that logic, only meat and chili is allowed?

I'm aware that some people include beans, corn, and/or tomato in their chili, while others don't, hence my saying "if".

Myself, I'm not so much of a purist that I'd say that other ingredients disqualify the result from being called chili...

Yes, that is correct, according to the purist.
Meat and chilis.
Your post left out meat so you had me worried.
take care,
space

Look what I got for Christmas!

Hmm. You see, this is where people fuck up, and make revolting chilli that simply does nothing apart from burn your mouth. I think that the dish known internationally as chilli con carne NEEDS beans. It just reminds me of the arguments that go on about Bolognese. Lame really.
If people wanna start trying to be super authentic about chilli con carne, then lets be very, very honest, and remember that peasant scum in South America probably use rodent meat (particularly in Lent).

Can you grow ginger here? Never done it, or heard of anyone doing that...I want to! And where are you getting seeds for that, as well as for the coriander?

Just tried vinegar. Tentatively licked my fingers, then thinking all was clear, took a piss.

I think the vinegar helped quite a lot, but 5 minutes later, "doesn't quite neutralise" is correct. Ow(a).

Only described what I am dreaming of planting! I reckon you can simply put a root of ginger into a pot of soil then wait a year and see what happens. Coriander I reckon should be available at shops like Dehner in Sauerlach or Pflanzen Kölle in Unterhaching. At least therse are wher I plan to try in the beginning. I sow them then see what hapens. Of course all usually goes tits up whern the evil slugs have had their way.

just plant coriander seeds direct from your spice cabinet. Works 100%, did some last year.

All this talk of chilies, and I cannot seem to even find dried red pepper flakes... Any ideas on where to buy hot peppers?

try your local asian/indian store. However I thought it would be easy to get spices if you were in north america. Tell us where you are in Germany and it might help us help you..

I am in Munich, by the Westkreuz station. I will be staying here for a few months. Thank you for the heads up, it is much apperciated!!

I got some seeds from here:
http://www.dorsetnaga.com/

the damn chilis are so hot, you have to wear gloves when planting the seeds...

My seedlings are about 5cm high so far; should be a hot summer!