In which lime marmalade beginnings become a sauce-with-an-edge ending.
This recipe started in fact as lime marmalade. But then I thought “who doesn’t like sweet chili sauce?” . Of course chilli and limes are a classic combo found in many dishes; think bejewelled Mexican salsa, zingy Thai lime and chilli salad dressings or Indian lime and chilli pickle.
And even the more chilli-reticent among us, those not blessed with the capsaicin tolerating gene – scoff this sweet gloop readily and dollop it over all manner of things – burgers, grilled halloumi cheese, potato wedges and more. I like to slather this over Camembert or spread it into a doorstep Cheddar sandwich! – what is cooking if it is not to indulge and experiment with? 😉
The method looks a little convoluted but the macerated limes happily sit in the fridge for a few weeks and contain enough pectin to spontaneously gel into “lime marmalade” or else freeze a batch to make further chilli and lime sauce or a lime marmalade.
Ingredients for 8-10 jars of 200ml
For Step 1
- 750g boiled limes
- 750ml grape juice concentrate
- 250ml water from the boiling
For Step 2
- 750g of macerated limes
- 750g fruit sugar
- 500ml apple vinegar
- 500g fresh hot chilli peppers red and green sliced finely
- 1 /2 tin harissa
- 2 TSP hot chilli flakes
- 1 TBSP coriander seeds
- 2 white onions blended (or chopped very fine)
- 100g fresh ginger blended or chopped very fine
- tomato paste 150g
- garlic pureed 5 cloves
- 5 TBSP cornflour mixed into a “slurry” with 250ml water
- additional water if the mixture is too thick – 100-300ml
How To
Step 1
Boil the limes until soft – approx 1.5 hrs (covered with water)
Chop into small pieces the entire limes – this is quite tedious but can be speeded up with a food processor
Add the boiling water and the grape juice concentrate and simmer very very gently until the limes are “candied” ie they have become translucent and absorbed the grape juice concentrate – approx 1.5-2 hrs. Add a little more water/ concentrate if you have been over zealous with the heat
Step 2
The time and effort here is all in the prep – chopping and pureeing and blending. Once this is all done simply combine all of the ingredients plus 750g of macerated limes from step 1 into a large heavy bottomed pan or jam pan, EXCEPT the cornflour slurry, and boil up. Boil the mixture until the fresh chillies soften and the entire mix tastes cooked rather than raw – approx 1 hour.
When you are happy with the taste add the cornflour slurry, bring to the boil and the mixture will thicken to a dipping sauce consistency and as soon as it does, switch off the heat and pot into sterilised heated jars.