If your taste tends towards hot and spicy, this is the month to sow chillies.
Chillies not only spice up our food, they are healthy too. Fresh chillies are high in vitamin C, vitamin A, calcium, iron, thiamine, riboflavin and niacin. The heat, however, comes from the seeds and white fibrous membranes that contain capsaicin.
The magical property of capsaicin is the feeling of well-being it brings. Capsaicin causes the brain to release endorphins into the blood stream, creating a natural high similar to that which athletes experience.
Chillies range from mild and medium through to strong and very strong. The general rule is that the smaller, narrower and darker the chilli, the greater its pungency. Growing from seed offers the widest choice of varieties.
Sowing guideline
- Use fresh chilli seed because seed does not stay viable for long. The germination period varies according to variety so check the back of the seed packet.
- Seed is best sown into small 10cm pots to allow seedlings to grow into sturdy plants before being transplanted into a bigger pot or into the ground.
- Plant two to three seeds per pot and cut off the two weakest plants at ground level. This method makes transplanting easier.
- Cover the pots with plastic to trap in the moisture and make sure the soil stays moist. If it dries out, the seeds won’t germinate. Once the seedlings are up, remove the plastic cover and water them daily.
- When the first true leaves appear and are about 1.5cm wide transplant the seedlings into bigger pots.
- Before planting seedlings into the garden, enrich the soil with lots of compost and dig the ground over fairly deeply (at least 40cm deep) because capsicums have quite extensive roots. Mulch around the plants to keep the roots cool.
Good to know: In cooler areas chillies can be planted in full sun but in hot areas, including the highveld they do best with morning sun and some shade in the afternoon.
Try these
Mild: Hungarian Hot Wax has long fruits thatripen from pale yellow to gold and red. The mild but tasty fruit can be used at any stage of maturity. Excellent for pickling, canning, frying, and stuffing.
Sweet with a touch of heat: Pepper Cubanelle grows into a 60cm high bush with rounded fruit that has a touch of sweetness. Use it to make spicy sauces or add to savoury stuffings.
Mild to medium hot: Shishito has slender green fruits with a fresh peppery flavour. They are delicious skewered for the braai or sliced into a salad.
Hot: Thai red is a small pepper known for its heat and almost citrusy flavour. Thai chillies are used in all forms of Asian cooking to add heat without overpowering flavours.
Very Hot: Scotch Bonnet is the same size as the Habanero, and is as hot as, if not more so, than Habanero. It is used in hearty West African and Caribbean-styled recipes like rice and peas, beef patties, and ceviche.
Super-hot: Trinidad Scorpion is regarded as the hottest pepper in the world. The initial pleasant and tender fruit-like flavour quicky becomes very, very fiery. Use extreme caution when handling these fruits and keep away from children.
www.kirchhoffs.co.za and www.rawliving.co.za
Written by Alice Spenser-Higgs
