Chalt 2 - Bringing Chilli to Every Meal

By bamboo42 in Cooking BBQ & Grilling

2,329

In my previous instructable "Chalt, the condiment of 2012 and beyond" I detailed how to make chilli salt using the method of frying and baking chillies with salt https://www.instructables.com/id/Chalt-The-condiment-for-2012-and-beyond/.

The result was pretty good but the process was pretty hazardous and there were still problems with moisture in the salt. So taking in some suggestions and with a bit of lateral thinking I decided to try a different method.

I am currently staying in the middle of nowhere away from any shops so I had to use what was laying around. Luckily I had some salt and some chillies, so that was enough for a proof of concept.

Now a quick warning (the first one) - If you live with people it may beneficial to explain that you are in fact making Chalt and that you have not resorted to cooking Meth for money (you will see what I mean later).

The second warning: The fumes from this process are, although I think pretty harmless, quite noxious. I had to abandon my hob top boiling because where I am now there is no extractor and I was choking everyone in the house. I will explain how I tried to get around this during the instructable.

Anyway here it is Chalt 2: "Salt but not as we no it."

Step 1: Chillies, Salt and Water (and a Little Dash of Vinegar)

I only had a little salt left in the house and a couple of chillies so as I mentioned earlier this is a more a proof of method. I will say the results are good taste-wise but I have some tweeks to make yet. This does make some damn tasty salt though!

Okay, get your chillies, chop 'em up and put them in a pan of water. Basically you are trying to infuse as much chilli essence into the water as you can. I added a bit of vinegar to the water because I thought it might bring out a little more of the chilli. Take the pan to the boil.

After around 10 to 15 minutes of boiling heavily clutch at your throat and start choking. Let water stream from your eyes and snot roll from you nose. Once everyone in the house is doing the same then this stage is complete. (Note: you may want to skip this step and infuse slowly in the oven as I decided to half way through. As suggested by someone in my last instructable).

Step 2: Infusion and Straining

After the water and chillies have infused in the water (I left them steeping for a while, a couple of days would be best) strain thoroughly through a fine mesh or muslin. There you have your chilli water. Taste it for potency.

At this point re-heat the water and dissolve salt in until saturation point is reached. That is the point at which no more salt will dissolve in the solution.

You now have you Chalt solution.

The second photo shows the strained liquid in a silicon baking tray.

Step 3: Baking

I then put the solution in the oven on 120 degrees C to let it evaporate off. This could be done slower, or in the sun if you are so blessed. i just wanted results.

The result is these rather dirty looking crystals. I ground them fine and stuck em in the oven again to get the rest of the moisture out. I left it to cool and there you have it "Chalt".

I think next time longer evaporation times, maybe a little crystal garden. Basically, I want big crystals.

Have ago and give us some feed back. any ideas on making cleaner looking Chalt.

Step 4: Mix and Grind

CHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLTTTTTTT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Use with no caution.

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11 Comments

OmniaFaciat

10 years ago on Introduction

This is a great idea. I used this same principle to make an amino-rich garlic salt, which turned out very well. I haven't actually tried Chalt yet, but I do intend to.

Procrastinateher

10 years ago on Step 4

Did you use the word 'recrystallisation' in your 'ible? Because you could try getting chalt from the solution in the same way a high school kid gets copper sulfate crystals from their solution. It'd give bigger crystals.

1. Find a nice clean jar (smoth glass, preferrably), some string, a piece of wood or something to suspend your string into the glass from, and a place to leave it - an undisturbed, sunny windowsill is the best.

2. Super-saturate your chalt solution (maybe you need to do it outside for the sake of everyone's eyeballs?).

3. Whilst it's still fairly hot-warm (but not going to break the glass), pour the solution into the jar.

4. Get yourself a 'seed crystal' (either a bigger piece of your previous chalt crystals, or a sea salt crystal), tie it to the string, and set it up so the seed crystal is in the liquid but not touching the sides or bottom of the jar.

5. Put in safe place and leave for a day or three. The idea is that the longer it takes to cool down, the bigger the crystals will be (also if you don't move/bump it).

As the water evaporates, you should be left with nice big chunks of chalt on your string.

Yum, let us know how Chalt v. 1.3 goes!

jkendall1

10 years ago on Introduction

I have a batch of Bhut Jolokia, Habaneros, and Jalapenos in the garden. I'm always looking for new things to do with the mess of chilis I get every year. Thanks for the suggestion!

MysticHobo1982

10 years ago on Step 3

I think the reason your chalt looked 'dirty' is because you mixed Red and Green chiles. I have some commercial Ghost Pepper Infused Sea Salt that is a bit redder than your chalt. Try ticking to one color of pepper and see if that improves the color. Or just forget about the color and remember that there are already lots of brown spices that are quite tasty.