Sweet and hot!

At the beginning of poverty week, it’s time to make with the condiments and stock to tart up a string of cheap eats.

Pay day, is followed by rent, is followed by child support - and that just about does it for the week. I don't begrudge it - it’s just what I have to work with.

So, rather like some bachelors I know, it’s time for something sweet and hot!

Today I am making chicken stock for yummy rice and soups. Yesterday I made chilli sauces for dips and stir fries.

I generally do this in two lots, as I can use one half of the red capsicum for each different sauce. Roast red capsicum brings a rich flavour - earthy and sweet - to each of these very handy sauces.

Sweet and sticky

This is your garden variety sweet chilli sauce

Ingredients

• .5 red capsicum
• 1 birds eye chilli
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 cup water
• 1 cup sugar
• .5 cup rice vinegar
• 1.5 tablespoons cornflour

Method

Preheat oven to 200º C. Roast capsicum until I starts to blacken and blister. Remove from oven, and put it in a sealed plastic bag to let is sweat. Once it has cooled enough to touch, peel off the skin and chop. Retain as much of the juice as you can.

Place half the chopped capsicum and juices into a sauce pan. Chop the chilli and garlic, and add along with all the other ingredients, except the corn flour.

Bring to boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Simmer for about 10 minutes.

Let it cool until it won’t burn you, then whizz up with a food processor or bamix (choose only substitutes!) - this bit really is optional - sometimes I do, sometimes I don’t.

Return to saucepan and bring back to a boil, then a simmer.

Mix the cornflour with about 1 tablespoon of water - just enough to make a fairly runny paste.

At this to the saucepan and stir. Simmer until it starts to thicken.

Pour into sterilised jars, seal, and put straight in the fridge.

Yields: 2 cups (.5 litre) sweet chilli sauce

Hot and salty

This one is almost a chilli jam: hot, sour, salty, sweet. Very versatile as a condiment, a stir-fry base, or even a glaze for a roast chicken. I use palm sugar rather than regular sugar for this because of the rich colour and flavour and, when combined with Thai fish sauce, it rounds out so well for a stir fry.

Ingredients

• .5 red capsicum
• .25 cups (4 table spoons) palm sugar
• 5 birds eye chilli
• 3 cloves garlic
• .5 cup water
• .5 cup rice vinegar
• .25 cup fish sauce
• 1 lime
• 1 tablespoon corn flour

Method

As above!

Yields: 1.5 cups (about a third of a litre)