Every year, I grow a bunch of chili plants, resulting in a lot of chili fruits. Different years, different types, different amount of heat.

Many of our chilis end up being mixed with salt and dried into very tasty chili salts that are good for cheese, stews, with tomatoes and so on. But one can only make so much chili salt.

I have previously tried to make fermented chili sauce with mixed results, but most importantly, such sauce does not last long, and given its heat, I’ve usually had to throw half of it out in the end. But then, a co-worker told me about some candied chilis that he’d made. This recipe is super simple and since it’s more than 75% sugar, the result is long lasting. Here goes:

  1. Mix about 25% apple cider vinegar and 75% sugar. Add spices to your liking, the original recipe used garlic powder, turmeric and celery seeds. I had no selery seeds, but hey, these will all be background flavours, so add whatever you feel would be nice.

  2. Last time around, I made the chili pieces too large, so the only thing edible in the end was the syrup. Don’t make this mistake, shred those chili babys to small pieces.

  3. Boil everything except the chilis of it for a while, add the chilis for a few minutes, then put the chilis in clean small jars with some space left for the syrup.

  4. Then boil the syrup until it is thick enough, then fill the jars. Refrigerate for at least 2-3 months. Enjoy, but use caution, depending on the heat of your chilis.