Fermented Chili Sauce

While this recipe is not really original from anywhere that it can be traced back, the original process was indonesian. Feel free to experiment in any fermentation.

Ingredients

• Hot chilis (50 g)
• Carrots (150 g)
• Sweet onion (100 g)
• Sweet peppers or tomatoes (150 g)
• Garlic (3 cloves) — Just smash them, don't chop them
• Cardamon (3~4 pods) — You can use other dry spices too
• Salt (12 ~ 15 g) — Should be 3% of the weight of the whole mixture, including water
• Vinegar 5% (20 mL) — For after the fermentation

Steps

1. Clean the glass jar to use. Either submerge it in boiling water or wash it with hot soapy water.
2. Chop the head off all the chilis. Then cut the chilis in half and take away all seeds.
3. Chop all other ingredients, then weight all together. Measure the 3~5% of this weight in salt.
4. In the jar, add first the dry spices and the salt, then all chopped vegetables.
5. Fill up the jar with the water and close, letting it ferment for 30 days. If you are not using a fermentation lid, then open it every often to release the gases.
6. After the fermentation, separate all the solids from the brine (don't throw anything away).
7. Put the solids in a blender, then add the vinegar and a little bit of the brine and blend. If needed, add more brine, but don't add too much at the beginning. It is better to see that you need more liquid and add it than to see that it became too liquidy.