Sweet Chilli Sauce

Sweet chili sauce is an excellent accompaniment to many oriental dishes, fish, prawns, or even just as a dip. In this recipe you can adjust the heat of the sauce by strategic use of the chili seeds. A really spicy sauce has all the seeds in it, as the seeds are where the majority of the heat in a chili lies, whereas a milder sauce will have few, if any, seeds. Also note that increasing the amount of sugar will make it sweeter, but will also lessen the spiciness of the chili.

3 garlic cloves, crushed
2 chili peppers
chili seeds of 1 chili pepper (optional)
200ml water
60ml white wine vinegar
10g ginger
2tsp salt
5tbsp sugar
1tbsp cornflour
2tbsp cold water


Step 1
Mix the cornflour and cold water into a paste, then set aside. Place all the other ingredients into a blender and purée them. Pour the contents of the blender into a saucepan and bring the mixture to a boil on a medium heat.  Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for 2-3 minutes. Slowly whisk in the cornflour paste and simmer for another minute.

Step 2
Remove the mixture from the heat and allow to cool, then serve or pour into a container to store.



Another way to make this sauce is to create a syrup with sugar and water to serve as the thick suspension for the chili. Done in this way you would not need to create a cornflour paste.

Spicy Barbecue Sauce

A barbecue sauce can be very versatile if you get the consistency right. You can have it as a marinade, in which case it needs to be a little more runny, a dipping sauce, where it should be sticky and thick enough to coat the food, or anywhere in between. A good barbecue sauce can go on anything, be it chicken, hot dogs, or pizza, and this is a good barbecue sauce.


2 medium onions, finely chopped
4 garlic cloves, crushed
2tsp paprika
2tsp cumin
1tbsp tomato puree
1x400g tin chopped tomatoes
350g tomato ketchup
1 red chilli, finely chopped
10g fresh ginger, finely chopped
300g soft brown sugar
1tbsp cooking oil
200ml water
200ml cider vinegar
Salt and pepper to season



Step 1
Heat the oil in a large saucepan, and when hot add the onion, garlic, ginger and half the chilli. Reduce to a medium heat, and stir well. Add the paprika, cumin, tomato puree, water, vinegar sugar and ketchup and mix, then pour in the tinned tomatoes through a sieve, pressing the pieces through with a wooden spoon. Reduce on a medium heat for 30 minutes.


The barbecue sauce is now ready to be used as a marinade or in cooking, or reduce it down some more and use it to coat foor for a barbecue, or reduce it a bit further to make a barbecue dip. Ther sauce is also easy to customise, so if you like it stronger or weaker in terms of spice you can put in more or less chilli. You could also try customising the sauce for specific meats, trying mint in it for lamb, or sage for chicken.

Chilli Con Carne

A great dish when done properly, Chilli con carne is a delicious taste of home and a really tasty dish. You can make it properly with thin strips of steak, or you can substitute minced steak, or beef, instead. Instead of the can of tomatoes you could prepare your own, but canned is easier and quicker.


1.2kg lean braising steak/minced beef
2tbsp sunflower oil
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed or finely chopped
1tbsp plain flour
300ml red wine
300ml beef stock
2tbsp tomato puree
salt and pepper for seasoning

For the Beans
2tsp olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
1 fresh red chilli, de-seeded and chopped
2 x 400g cans red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
400g can chopped tomatoes


Step 1
If using the braising steak cut into thin strips and then cut crossways to make cubes of the meat. Heat the sunflower oil in a large saucepan and add the chopped onion and the garlic and cook on a low heat until softened, not browned. Remove the onion and garlic with a slotted spoon, and season the flour with salt and pepper before coating the cubes of meat with it and adding them to the pan on a high heat and brown. If using mince, make small balls of mince and roll in the seasoned flour, and when browning break up the ball.

Step 2
Return the onion and garlic to the pan and stir in the wine, stock and tomato puree and bring to the boil on a high heat, reduce the heat and let the beef mixture simmer for 45 minutes or until tender, if using whole steak; or for 30 minutes if using mince. Reduce the liquid until thickened and taste, and add more seasoning if required.

Step 3
Meanwhile heat the olive oil in a large, deep frying pan and cook the onion and chilli on a low heat until softened. stir in the beans and tomatoes and simmer gently to reduce the liquid for 25-30 minutes until the mixture has thickened. Serve with the beans topping the meat

Ideally serve this with basmati rice, and you can have guacamole, salsa, and sour cream on the side. Top with chopped coriander leaves as a garnish to add a little extra flavour. For those who like their food with less spice you can reduce the amount of chilli, about half a chilli will reduce the heat while still giving the flavour. If, on the other hand, you like more spice then you can add either more chilli, some tobasco sauce, or use a hotter chilli pepper. Also, I like to mix together the meat and the bean just before serving, or for an interesting take you could always try having three strips, one of the meat, one of the rice, and one of the beans, artfully aranged on the plate. As you can see from the pictures I also added celery and carrots to the mix. If you do this add them with the beans and tomatoes in step 3.