Do you want to speed up your metabolism so you burn more fat? Eating chilli is a well known tactic in the fight against unwanted body fat and a spoon or two of killer chill jam is just the ticket to boost your digestive fire. All hot chillies contain capsaicinoids, natural substances that produce a burning sensation. This substance in chillies is capsicum. It is concentrated in the veins of the fruit (not the seeds) and stimulates the nerve endings in your mouth, fooling your brain into thinking you’re in pain. Capsaicinoid content is measured in parts per million. These parts per million are converted into Scoville heat units, the industry standard for measuring a chillies punch. See the scale below.
Red hot chilli jam
½ cup macadamia nut oil – more for sealing jars
3 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
2 brown onions, peeled and chopped
100 grams birdseye chilli, finely chopped
200 grams long red chill, seeded and de-ribbed and finely chopped
1 ½ cups palm sugar
½ cup tamarind paste
½ cup coconut oil
- Heat oil in a large pan and add onions and garlic
- Add chilli and palm sugar continue to cook until chilli is soft and the jam has started to thicken a little
- Then add the tamarind paste to taste – more if you like the sour flavour
- Add coconut oil so the jam will set well
- Spoon into sterilised jars, seal with a little macadamia oil and secure the lid
- Refrigerate for up to a month
Here’s the Scoville Heat Unit for you to compare
Scoville Heat Unit (SHU) rating of some chillies:
Bell and Sweet Italian 0-100
Pepperoncini 100-500
New Mexico 500-1,000
Poblano & Espanola 1,000-1,500
Ancho & Pasilla 1,000-2,000
Rocotillo peppers 1,500-2,500
Cascabel & Cherry 1,000-2,500
Jalapeno & Mirasol 2,500-5,000
Wax 5,000-10,000 Serrano 5,000-15,000
de Arbol 15,000-30,000
Cayenne & Tabasco 30,000-50,000
Chiltepin 50,000-100,000
Jamaican Hot 100,000-200,000
Scotch Bonnet & Thai 100,000-350,000
Habanero 200,000-377,000
It was in 1912 whilst working for the Parke Davis pharmaceutical company that Wilbur Scoville developed a method to measure the heat level of a hot chilli. Scoville tried first to measure pungency by studying how chilli extract reacted with other chemicals but concluded that none was sensitive enough to offer readings with any degree of precision. He found that the tongue, on the other hand, was far more sensitive, capable of detecting capsaicin, the chemical in hot chillies that is responsible for their heat, dissolved in a solution a million times its volume; no laboratory test could detect such a low concentration.
How to make red hot chilli jam