Chilli Oil... Some Like It HOT!

Chilli Oil

So Simple
So Scrumptious.

And quite frankly, I don't know what else I'm supposed to do with the bumper glut I've had this year!

Seriously; I may not need to EVER buy any chillies again!

But.. If you have a greenhouse, please, I URGE you - grow a chilli plant!  They are really low maintenance, past the seed sowing stage, and these days, there are lots of varieties available at garden centres... Though, be warned, my experience of buying them as plants is that they rarely turn out to be what they say on the tin!
Chilli Roulette!

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What you need;

1.  Olive oil
Enough to fill whatever you plan to bottle it in. 
I use Extra Virgin because I like the flavour with the chilli, but use mild if you prefer the taste pure.

2. Chillies
(Per 200ml of Oil)
3-4 Dried Whole Hot Chillies
Half a teaspoon or so of dried chilli flakes.
(These are an optional extra, but does look nice in the bottle.
Kinda like a snow dome when you shake it..)

N.B. 
You can use semi-dried chillies, but in this case use the oil within a couple of months otherwise it'll start to go cloudy.

What you do;

• Heat the oil gently in a pan on the stove for 5 mins.
  
• Add chillies and flakes - they should sizzle just a little as they go in.  We don't wanna deep fry them!
  
• Heat for another few mins then decant into sterilised bottles (use a funnel, for peats sake) reserving the chillies.
  
• Using tongs, add the chillies to the bottle and if necessary top up the oil so they are fully submerged.
  

That's it!

The oil will get hotter over time, but should keep perfectly well for at least a year.