After months of waiting and careful maintenace we finally got to harvest our jalapeños. It sure feels great to have done everything from planting the seeds to create a finished “product”. So, now it is official. You don’t need a garden to get a good harvest. Jalapeños or actually all chilli plants that we have tried to grow has turned out great. Next year our balcony will be full of different types of chillies. This year we have grown a type that is called black jalapeño. We got all of our seeds in a web shop that sells lots of organic seeds and has a big selection to choose from. The black jalapeño is black from the beginning but when it starts to ripen it becomes red. Apparently that goes for all chillies or peppers no matter which colour it begins with. I also learned that if you harvest the fruit before it is completely ripe you get more heat in the chillies. As you can see in the pictures we waited until some of them got red. Not so much for the heat but more to let the fruit grow a little bit bigger. 

We chose to grow jalapeños for a special reason. We love the pickled jalapeños that you buy in the supermarket and we eat them with everything but we especially enjoy them with tacos, enchiladas and burgers. And as it happens we also love to make things on our own and the thought of filling our cupboard with different preserves from the summer and early autumn is very appealing to us. A big plus with making your own pickled jalapeños is that you get to choose the texture. We prefer ours a little more crisp than the ones you buy in the supermarket and that is easily fixed when you make them at home. Even if you haven’t grown your own chillies it is worth making your own pickles at home with chillies bought in a shop. The taste becomes a hundred times more intense and the texture much more crisp ( if you want it to be ). This recipe is useful for all different types of chillies. And if you want to add any flavouring like garlic you just add it together with the chillies.

They come in many shapes…

…and colours. This one is a bit more ripe and red.

And these are still black.

There were quite a few of them.

A mix of beautiful colours!

Once you place them in boiling water they loose their black colour and become green.

400-500 g jalapeños ( or any chilli of choice )

4 dl / 1.6 cup apple cider vinegar

4 dl / 1.6 cup water

4 tbsp sugar

1.5 tsp salt

Clean and dry the chillies. Cut them in approx 3 mm big pieces. Put them in a pan and add the rest of the ingredients. Bring it to a boil while stirring. Let it cook for 3-5 minutes depending on the texture you want. When you are pleased with the texture you remove the pan from the heat. Now you lift the chillies out of the pan and into the jars. Then you cover the chillies in the jars with the liquid from the pan. Don’t forget to make sure the jars are cleaned and sterilized. Enjoy!