Chili Varieties

Aji
About 4 to 5 inches long, medium fleshed, with a fruity flavour. This chile is used to make a yellow mole sauce and is good in salsas.

Anaheim
About 4 to 5 inches long, medium to thick flesh, with a fresh green taste improved by charring, usually available in its green form, close relative to the New Mexico Chllli. Not too hot this green chilli so it can be roasted and stuffed. .

Anchos
About 3 to 4 inches long, these are dried poblano chillis, a dark reddish brown chilli with a wrinkled surface, fairly mild, thickish flesh with a sweet earthy flavour of liquorice, tobacco, coffee and raisins. Used in mole, enchilada sauces, tamales and stews. The traditional mole has Ancho, Mulato and Pasilla Chillis. .

Antohi Romanian
About 3 to 4 inches long, these tapered pointed fruits ripen from pale yellow to orange/red. Early with a heavy yield. Originating in Romania these sweet peppers are usually fried in a hot pan. (Grown 2002 see diary) .

Apache
About 2 inches long, makes a good dwarf pot plant, good crop of chillis all summer, plant reaches about 12-16 inches high. (Grown 2001 see diary) .

Arbol
About 3 inches long, these pointy fiery little devils have a scorching heat. More often available in dried form when they are bright to dark red. Used in flavouring oils and vinegars. .

Aurora
Small colouful ornamental, tapered upright fruit about 1.5 inches long ripens from dark purple to orange to red. Easily grown in a pot on the windowsill reaching about a foot high. (Grown 2002 see diary) .

Bangalore Torpedo
These hot chillis will grow into 3 inch long twisted and hooked curly fruits. Good for cooking with a clean hot flavour, ripening to red. (Grown 2001 see diary) .

Banana
About 6 inches long, this crisp, thick fleshed, mild to medium hot chilli is also known as the Hungarian wax chilli. Used in sauces or can be roasted and stuffed. Usually found pickled, good as a snack. .

Bulgarian Carrot
About 4-5 inches long, crisp, thick fleshed hot chilli, the colour and shape of a carrot. Good for pickling or roasting and stuffing. (Grown 2001 see diary) .

Caribbean Red
About 1 to 2 inches round. These are as HOT as the Red Savina. Apart from the heat they have a wonderful fruity flavour. Unfortunately weather and sun makes them harder to ripen in the UK. Used in salsas, chutneys and Caribbean cuisine, mixing especially well in salsas with fruit. (Grown 2001 see diary) .

Cascabel
Meaning rattle in Spanish due to the rattling sound when shaken, about 1 to 2 inches, dark reddish brown, smooth and round in shape, this chilli is medium hot used in sauces, salsas soups and stews. (Grown 2000 see diary) .

Cayenne
About 4 to 6 inches long, these thin fleshed chillis are available fresh in green or red depending if they've been ripened on the bush, has an acidic tart flavour. Used in chilli sauces but main use is its powdered form- cayenne pepper. .

Cherry Bomb
1.5 - 2 inches pendant shaped fruit. Early and productive fruits ripen from dark green to red. (Grown 2002 see diary) .

Chilaca
Measuring 6 to 9 inches long ripening to dark brown. Sometimes pickled or used in sauces but mainly dried, known as chile pasilla or chile negro, see the pasilla description further down the page. (Grown 2000 see diary) .

Chipotle
About 1 to 3 inches long, these chillis are made by drying and smoking Jalapeño peppers, these wrinkly chillis have a thick flesh with a smokey sweet nutty flavour and a hint of chocolate. Good in everything, added to soups, stews and casseroles. Smoke your own chipotles.

Chilhaucle Negro
About 2 to 3 inches long, this dark mahogany chilli has an intense fruit flavour and is shaped like a miniature bell pepper. Used in soups and stews and in black mole sauces with its dark purple colour. .

Chocolate Habanero
About 5cm deep, probably one of the later to mature habanero's. Ripens from green to a chocolate brown. Used in salsas, chutneys and Caribbean cuisine, mixing especially well in salsas with fruit. (Grown 2006 see diary) .

Choricero
About 4 inches long, this is an extremely sweet and mild Spanish chilli. Used in sauces, soups and stews and is large enough to stuff. .

Costeño Amarillo
Anything from 1 to 3 inches long, this shiny amber chilli has a thin flesh and has a light lemony green flavour. Used in yellow moles, soups stews and salsas. .

Czechoslovakian Black
Plant produces good early yields of 2 inch long hot peppers. Peppers grow upright and turn from black, to red when mature. Plant has fuzzy green stems, fuzzy green leaves, and purple flowers. (Grown 2003 see diary) .

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