Name: Homemade turkish chili sauce
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 35 min
Total time: 45 min
Ingredients: 12-15 long red chilies, (jalapeno or cayenne preferable); ½ tsp cumin; 3/4 tsp caraway, (crushed in a mortar); 1 tsp salt; 3 tbsp lemon juice; 3 tbsp olive oil; 2 garlic cloves, (crushed); 1 tbsp tomatopaste

Do you also sometimes come to the shawarma / kebab house (or kebab cousin as we called it at home) and get a pita bread or a durum roll with it all – and just a little sprinkle of chili sauce on top?

Some will say it’s the chili sauce that does it all – whether it’s a good experience or not. After all, I would always say, that it is the meat – the kebab is the most important thing. If there is enough lamb meat in the mix, adjusted with fat etc. And of course if the salad is crispy and the bread is fresh and home baked.

But I’m basically not that much of a fan for chili sauce – or anything strong in any way. So right there I’m pretty boring. On the other hand, my husband loves chili sauce as much as I … don’t like it. And especially if it’s a good homemade one.

Family recipe for turkish chili sauce:

Why I don’t know, but it seams nearly impossible to find a chili sauce, that reminds of what you can get from the shawarma house.

Allright – there are a lot of good ones. But I often hear, that it is not quite the same – that something is still missing before it tastes precisely right.

So that’s why I’ve been looking around on a few recipes. But I always end up with this family recipe. It’s the one for turkish chili sauce. The one that works best, tastes correctly and is easy to make. So you’ll have it here in just a moment.

Of course, it means the world, what kind of chilli you use. Unless you are a super chili enthusiast, who grows them yourself and knows a whole lot about varieties, care, conditions and not least strengths, you will probably dive into the nearest supermarket (or ethnic greengrocer) like me and find some chili that looks nice. And then you use them.

I’ve taken a closer look at the chili varieties, you can buy. Of course, they are crucial to how strong a chili paste / chili sauce you get.

In many groceries they have the Anaheim variety, which definitely belongs in the mild end (it lies at ml 500-2500 on the scoville scale). Here you get almost no “kick”, which is opposit of what is expected of a chili sauce. At least if it should be reminiscent of the one from the kebab cousin.

If you can, look for the varieties jalepeno or even cayenne if you want something that is nicely strong. Jalepeno is the mild of the two (ml 2500-5000 Scoville, where Tabasco and cayenne lying on ml 30000-50000 scoville). There is a difference, so it all depends on what you like. And how much you dare and how many chili you spend.

Try it :

So, it is a little taste and pleasure what exactly you like best. But try it. It’s easy to make the chili sauce, so if it gets too mild, just dilute with some plain chili powder (or buy some of the strong chili, puree them and add). If, on the other hand, it becomes too strong, then you just adjust with a little more tomato puree. Then you absorb the chili flavor a bit.

The seeds, of course, are strong. But did you know, that the strength is especially in the strings (which hold the seeds) and at the top of the chili? So if you use these, you can again get a slightly stronger chili sauce and easily adjust a little on the strength.

But this turkish chili sauce is one, that you can quickly make, if you just have a small hour in excess or while doing something else. It’s that easy. What takes the longest time is, when the cutted chilies have to stand with boiled water over for 30 minutes. This is to soften the shell. But then you are free to do anything else meanwhile.

And that sauce is really a great feature for a lot of cooking. In any case, we eat chili sauce together with many things at home, whether it’s for meat, vegetable dishes or soups.

“And what about you Camilla – why bother making chili sauce at all, when you don’t eat it yourself “?? Well, this one is exactly what I eat! I actually like it, because it highlights a lot of the food in a pretty good way. It is just strong and well seasoned, so that it does not overdo it all, but just supports and highlights. But again …. it depends on which chili you choose 😉

But just try this homemade turkish chili sauce together with homemade köfte or kebab with freshly baked flat bread. Or maybe with roast lamb ?? Yummy I just say …… I am sure you will love it too.

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