Chilli Oil
^^^^^^^^^^

This recipe is low-yield, but high speed high quality.

You will need (assuming you have a bottle to put it in...)

1 Litre of Light Olive Oil (Yellow not green)
1 jar of crushed chillies
1 pack of green chillies (89p from tesco)
some whole mustard seeds
some black peppercorns
a clove or two of garlic. (note cloves not bulbs)

To prepare the oil you will need 2 small saucepans, one of which will need a
well fitting lid -- and a funnel to fit the bottle you are putting the oil
into.

Method:

Put about 1/4 of the oil into a pan, and heat it up to just below smoking.
take about 1/4 of a jar of mustard seeds (basically a small palmful) and
throw them into the oil, cover immediately with a lid and remove from the
heat. The mustard seeds will heat up and crack.

Meanwhile take a small handful of the chillies (about 15 to 20) and top/tail
them, and chop them into small (about 3mm) rings. Gather up the rings and
all the seeds and put them into the now cooling oil and mustardseeds.

Put the pan back on a moderate heat to encourage the chillies to soften.

Meanwhile, heat another 1/4 of the oil and finely chop the garlic, adding it
at a temperature where the garlic just begins to brown. Gently increate the
temperature taking care not to burn the garlic, then, in one go, add the jar
of crushed chillies, stirring carefully.

Take both pans off the heat and let them cool.

Take the remainder of the chillies, top and tail them, and cut them so that
they are open all down one side. You don't need to use all the chillies, but
the more you do, the better the oil will be.

Gather a handful of peppercorns, and prime your bottle with them.

Mix a little of the remaining fresh oil into each of the pans to thin them a
little, then pour the pan containing the crushed chillies through the funnel
into your bottle.

Once it's all in, add the contents of the other pan.

If there are any bits left behind, wash them into the bottle with a little
of the remaining oil.

Once all the 'prepared oil' is in the bottle, feed in all your chillies which
are cut lengthwise. If there is any room left, add as much of the remaining
oil as you can.

Now seal the bottle, and put it somewhere warm and dry.

Wash /everything/ which chilli got into contact with, in very very very hot
water with lots of soap/washing liquid, about five times.

Now wash your own hands about 20 times more, and remember not to pick your
nose for a day or two :)

Ongoing Method:

The oil will not be ready for a week or three, so every day, invert the
bottle for a short while, to make sure that the oil is being moved around.

After a week, open the bottle and put a /small drop/ on your tongue, it
should not tingle for about 5 seconds, and then it should break through :)

Once the tingle delay is down to one or two seconds (usually 2 or 3 weeks
after making the oil) it is ready for use in cooking.

Because this is a low yield oil, please remember to use it sparingly,
however it is high strength (we hope) so it should be good for a long while.