Chilli chilli jam jam

I don't really like jam, you know the sweet stuff you have for breakfast or maybe at tea time, if you are a little bit peckish. I would have Marmite or tomatoes (ripe and raw of course, with olive oil, basil and sea salt) on toast because I am a savoury girl. But the exception to the rule is chilli jam oozing with crushed garlic and lip-tingling fresh chilli, with a hint of Nam Plaa and red wine vinegar, and of course, huge amounts of brown sugar. This goes brilliantly with your favourite cheese...and I have a few favourites.

I used Scotch Bonnet chillis, mainly because that's all my corner store stocks - they give one hell of a kick, if you'd like something a little more subdued try a few birdseye or whatever you find in your local shop.

Do not follow recipes to an inch of their life! Experiment and learn for yourself. It helps to have approx ingredients and instructions, but I find things take longer than people say they do - my chilli jam takes a few hours before it turns into a delicious jammy, sticky substance and it tastes different every time I make it. You might want to add ginger or red peppers for your next attempt...

Ingredients

• about 1kg ripe tomatoes (this makes 3/4 smallish jars)
  
• 5 Scotch Bonnet chillies or 8/9 red chillies
  
• 5 garlic cloves
• 50ml Nam Plaa (Thai fish sauce)
• 300g brown sugar (you can use castor sugar)
  
• 100ml red wine vinegar

Method

Blanch the tomatoes in boiling water for 5-10 min until the skins are ready to peel off - drain, and let them cool a little before you take the skins off.

Peel and roughly chop the garlic and chillis, you can add the seeds depending on how hot you want it. Be careful what you do with your fingers for several hours afterwards, even though I'd washed mine, my fingers were still full of heat all evening!

Puree the tomatoes, chillies, garlic and Nam Plaa in a food processor or blender until you have a smooth puree.

Place the puree, sugar and vinegar in a large saucepan and slowly bring to the boil, stirring regularly with a wooden spoon. When boiling reduce to a slow simmer and leave to cook for about an hour and a half (or longer). Remove any scum that rises to the top and stir regularly. The cooking smells are divine!

Remove from the heat and pour into sterilised jars, when at room temperature store in the fridge until ready to use.

By the way I just use any jars (peanut butter, mayonaise etc) that I have stashed away for these purposes - any shape or size - washed and the labels peeled off (after a good soak in the sink with hot, soapy water). They make great presents, especially with a ribbon.