Quick question, when are chili's ready please?

[shirl]

Hi everyone

Just a quick question, i'm making a curry this afternoon and forgot to buy chili's.  The ones on my plant are about three inches long, would I be able to eat them now?

Sorry probably a very stupid question but i've never grown them (or anything much really) before.

The recipe asks for a green chili anyway and they are that.  PS if I leave some on the plant, do they just go red?

Thank you and have a good bank holiday

[shirl]

[aquilegia]

green chilies are just like green tomatoes - not yet ripe, but still edible.

they are ready when you want to use them.

I believe green ones aren't as hot as red ones.

[tim]

Well said!

[daisymay]

do green chillis always turn red then  ???

ours have been on the plant for ages and have got to about 4 inches long but show no sign of going red, or getting any bigger - they seem to have just reached their limit?

[Jill]

Depends on what sort your chillies are.  What type are you growing?  My habaneros are virtually all still green, with only a couple having turned orange.  On the other hand my Ring of Fire chillies are now virtually all red.  Some chillies are slower than others.

[tim]

PATIENCE!!

But some, like Hungarian Wax, only go yellow.

[shirl]

Thank you everyone, I had a delightful lime and coriander chicken curry!

My chilis are quite mild though, dont know whether they will get any hotter.  I have no idea what variety it is, I bought it with a notice saying 'chili'

Thanks again........... I love gardening! :-)

[Jill]

Hi Shirl.  Can you post a piccie then we can have a go at guessing what it is? ;D  They'll probably go hotter the longer they're left on the plant.  And the seeds are the hottest bit.

[Hyacinth]

Hiya Shirl, (oops! but hello Jill, too ;D)

As a general rule, green chillies are less hot than when they are left to go red (or yellow!) on the plant - the flesh alone is mildest but both the seeds and the pith are 'hot'. So if you want flavour to win over heat, best to strip them of both. The chillies can be frozen and de-seeded &  de-pithed straight from the freezer if this is your chosen method of saving them.

Cheers!

[wardy]

I grew some green chillies and folks said they wouldn't be hot.  They were either jalapenos or habaneros.  Not hot! :o  They were volcanic  ;D  Very easy to grow though although I do have nightmares about how I was "gassed" when I tried to top, tail and deseed them prior to freezing them.  DON'T do it.  You just freeze them whole and do nothing to them cept put them in the freezer bag.  They look quite harmless don't they  ;D

[shirl]

Hi Shirl.  Can you post a piccie then we can have a go at guessing what it is? ;D  They'll probably go hotter the longer they're left on the plant.  And the seeds are the hottest bit.

Hi Jill

I have a camera but its not working at the moment, I shall see if I can find a similar pic on the internet.  Its a pretty plant, loads of flowers.

[Hyacinth]

Yeah, Wardy, they do.........they feel it too, straight from the freezer, like, when you're de-seeing them. Still come with a govt. health warning re: hand washing after handling, tho.. ::)

[redimp]

Do not pick your nose for about three days even if you have been constantly washing your hands.  :'(

[wardy]

They are incredible little plants aren't they.  So benign yet so powerful and we mishandle them at our peril  :)  It's strange though how drawn to eating them we all are  :)

[daveandtara]

actually wardy, i can't stand chillies!
i was so desperate to plant something, anything, when i got my plot that i bought a chilli plant!
and now it's doing better than anything else! smothered in fruit!
some are half black, half green but most are 3 or 4 inches long and look most impressive.
oh i wish i could enjoy eating them!
Tara xx

[redimp]

Had a brilliant lottie curry tonight - fresh veg, freshy roasted and ground spices and home grown chillis.  I don't have a paddy field though so I had to import the rice - and the chick peas came out of a tin too.  Still got some left for lunch   :D

[shirl]

Redclanger that sounds wonderful.  And dont you find its always so much more delicious when you know your own hard work made the meal possible....... or maybe thats a new gardener thing!!  ;D  I sit there grinning whilst eating my salad!!

[redimp]

I am in my first year as well so yes every meal at the moment is a minor miracle and savoured all the more for that.  Next year I am going to grow my own chick peas as well.

[tim]

Tara - try the milder ones stuffed with cheese & roasted?

[daveandtara]

Tim, we love 'ordinary' peppers cooked that way. (i've already chosen the variety i plan to grow next year).

the chillis (although sold as jalepeno) don't really look like the pictures in the links on here. mine are half black, half green. they're smooth and shiny tho, so i guess they're healthy  ???

is eating them the only way to tell how hot they are?
now who shall i use as a guinnea pig............ :-\