The bottleshop down the road had a basket out, “Free Habñeros, Please Take!”.  Well that’s not something I am going to argue with right?  They politely asked me to take the chillies, it wouldn’t be civil to decline.

I took four of the habañeros out of the basket, leaving about twelve.  I took them home and tried to figure out what to do with them.

Habañeros are essentially the silver medal of all chillies, the only hotter are Naga (or Bhut) Jolokia, the hottest chillies available which are from northern India – and are smeared on fences regularly to keep wild elephants at bay.  Seriously.  Four habañeros is not many unless you are finely slicing them for pizza, I needed ideas.

Twittersourcing a plan for the habs was interesting, one person suggested seeping them in a bottle of vodka which while appealing would leave me with an aggressively spicy (and aggressively alcoholic) bottle of vodka that’d be useful for maiming friends and family, but the twitter user who piped up about a carrot sauce won me over.

Warning:  I am deadly serious, this is painfully hot.  If you are anything less than a rabid chilli fan do not make, or eat this sauce.  Habañeros are hot enough to be dangerous to work with, wear gloves, throw the gloves out when you are done.  The sauce is hot enough to blister delicate lips so it’s absolutely unsuitable for children.

This is delicious as a spread to replace butter, on chicken or in tacos.

Ingredients

2 large carrots, peeled & chopped

1/2 small to medium brown onion

1 1/2 cups white vinegar

1/2 cup water

6 cloves garlic

1/4 cup fresh lime juice

1 tablespoon salt

1 teaspoon black pepper

1/4 cup seeded mustard

4 habañeros

10 short, red thai chillies.  Mine were verging on overripe, making them much hotter.

Method

Combine the carrots, onion, vinegar, water, garlic, lime juice, salt, pepper and mustard in a medium saucepan. Simmer for 10 to 15 minutes giving it the occasional stir until the carrots are soft. Remove from heat.  Allow to cool for a few minutes, then place the chillies in the jug of a blender, then pour the other ingredients on top.  Once completely cool, blend to a smooth puree.