Victorian Essence of Chillies is a traditional Anglo-Indian recipe from the 1860s for a classic chilli sauce made from dried chillies blended with vinegar. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic Anglo-Indian version of: Victorian Essence of Chillies.
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This is a traditional Anglo-Indian recipe redacted from the volume THE INDIAN COOKERY BOOK: A Practical Handbook to The Kitchen in India (author unknown), published by: WYMAN & CO., HARE STREET CALCUTTA circa 1869. The recipe comes at the end of the section on PORTUGUESE CURRY (VINDALOO OR BINDALOO), so this is a Vindaloo curry paste or a curry paste from Goa.
Original Recipe
355.—Essence of Chilies
Pick one chittack or two ounces of the best dried Patna chilies; expose them to a hot sun for an
hour; then pound them to as fine a powder as possible; put the powder into a stoppered bottle with a
tspful of salt, pour over it as much vinegar only as will form a limp paste, and expose it to the
sun for a few days; then pass it through muslin, adding to it as much more vinegar as will reduce it to
the consistency of some thick sauce.
Modern Redaction
For this recipe I used a blend of cayenne chillies and red habaneros, with a couple of Kashmiri chillies for colour. In essence this is a hot chilli sauce that's made with dried rather than fresh chillies. You can adjust the chillies used to suit your own taste.
Ingredients:
50g dried red chillies
2 dried Kashmiri chillies
vinegar, as needed
1 tsp salt
Method:
Place a non-stick pan over medium-high heat. Add the dried chillies and toast lightly to ensure they're dry (about 90 seconds will be enough).
Turn out onto a plate to cool then place in a spice or coffee gringer and render to a fine powder.
Transfer this powder to a jar then add the salt, then mix in just enough vinegar to form a loose paste. Put in the sun every day for 3 days to mature.
After this time, pass the mixture through a sieve lined with muslin (cheese cloth). Pour the liquid into a bottle and add just enough more vinegar to give the consistency of a thick but pourable sauce.
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