Nutrition
| Per 100 g | Per 1 oz (28 g) | |
|---|---|---|
| Energy | 300 kcal | 85 kcal |
| Protein | 14.3 g | 4 g |
| Fat | 3 g | 0.9 g |
| saturated | 0.3 g | 0.1 g |
| Carbohydrate | 54.8 g | 15.5 g |
| sugars | 39.8 g | 11.3 g |
| Fibre | 11.3 g | 3.2 g |
| Sodium | 68 mg | 19 mg |
Estimated from the ingredients, for the finished dried product. Actual values vary with the produce you use and how far you dry it.
Ingredients
- 1.6 kg jalapeños
Instructions
- Wear gloves and keep the peppers away from your face throughout. This recipe grinds a whole tray of chillies into airborne dust, so it is worth being careful at every stage rather than only at the end.
- Rinse the jalapenos and dry them well, then cut the stems off and halve each one lengthways.
- Scrape out the seeds and the pale ribs. Almost all the heat is in that white tissue rather than in the green flesh, and taking it out is what lets you actually taste the pepper in the powder.
- Lay the halves cut side up in one layer with space around them. Cut side down, the flesh presses against the mesh and traps moisture exactly where you cannot see it.
- Dehydrate at 52 °C for 15 hours and resist raising the setting. The green colour the powder is worth having comes from not cooking the peppers, and a hotter run turns them brown.
- A pepper is ready when it breaks apart as you bend it rather than folding, and feels papery rather than leathery. Cool one first — chilli skin is supple while warm and firms up within a minute off the tray.
- Grind the cooled halves in short bursts and then leave the blender shut for several minutes. Opening it straight away releases a cloud of capsaicin dust that will have the whole room coughing.
- Pour the powder into a mason jar with a tight lid and keep it in the dark. It holds its heat for a year but the green colour fades to khaki after about six months, so make it in small batches if the colour is what you want it for.
