Recipe Massa De Malagueta (Portuguese chilli paste)

[Herbie]

There are two Portuguese pepper pastes, a hot one (I've made here) and a sweet one I'll make next week.

It is a very simple recipe of fermented chilli, salt, a little olive oil. It is very salty and hot, and you use it to season soups, stews, rice, dressings, marinades. Just don't add salt first!

I use a ratio of 10:1 whole chillies to salt

Fresh red chilli
Maldon sea salt (or another course salt)
Olive oil


Wash and dry chilli
Cut off tops
scoop out the pale insides and some of the seeds (you can leave them in)
Grind the chilli
Mix chilli and salt and put in a glass container, loosely covered in the fridge
Stir every day for 8 days (or until it stops fizzing when you stir it)
Pack into a sterilised jar and cover the top of the paste with olive oil.
Put the lid on and keep refrigerated.
To use pull back some of the thick olive oil and smooth back after you have taken the paste out
Always make sure the paste is stored covered with olive oil to keep it sealed so add more oil if needed.

This is the paste on day one. It smells amazing.

 

[Morning Glory]

This sounds like a great easy to do preserve. I will definitely try it. What kind of peppers did you use?

 

[The Late Night Gourmet]

I love the simplicity of this: it can work with anything! My favorite chili pepper paste is mala sauce, which is made from peppers, salt, oil, sichuan peppercorns, and other seasonings. I like the idea of using old spice jars to put in different pepper pastes (Fresno pepper paste, Serrano pepper paste, Thai bird chili pepper paste, Habanero pepper paste...) so I can adjust the amount of pain I bring to a dish accordingly.

 

[Herbie]

I just used the red chillies from a mixed bag from the supermarket as it was all I could get. The recipe says finger chillies, which I have used before, and when I grow my own in the summer I do batches of different types.

 

[Morning Glory]

I do batches of different types.

Scotch bonnets it is then!

 

[Herbie]

I have done. I think the hotter the better as there is so much salt that you want the balance of heat and salt in every 1/4 tsp you add. If you like hot!

Forgot to say is also good in pasta/pasta sauce..

 

[The Late Night Gourmet]

Forgot to say is also good in pasta/pasta sauce..

A base for a diavolo or arrabiata sauce: I like it!