Add some spice to your life with my Caribbean Mango Pepper Sauce. This homemade sauce is silky, spicy and delicious. And you can make it as hot as you like!
The recipe starts out with big chunks of beautiful vegetables and fruits and ends up a silky smooth sauce. It takes a while to make, but a lot of the time is just simmering the sauce.
It's Gr8 on fish, chicken, and pork. One of my friends even puts it on his egg whites in the morning! Serve it with tortilla chips or plantain chips as a salsa.
If you make my Jamaican Meat Pies, this Mango Pepper Sauce would be a delicious condiment for dipping.
How to Make Your Own Pepper Sauce
It's actually really easy! Yes, there are a lot of ingredients, 7 fruits and veggies, 4 condiments, and 6 herbs and spices, but that is why this sauce has such an amazing depth of flavor.
When seeding and chopping everything, you don't have to be precise at all. Everything will cook down and be blended together.
Simply put all the ingredients into a large pan, I use my enameled cast iron Dutch oven. Be sure to choose a non-reactive pan*.
Bring this pot of goodness to a boil on the stove then turn down and simmer, with the cover tipped to let some steam escape, for about an hour.
Once the veggies and fruits are cooked down, remove it from the heat. It's now ready to be blended. You can blend immediately or wait until it cools a bit.
I love my immersion blender for things like this because there's no moving of hot liquid between blender and pan.
Now to complete the sauce and really make it silky, put the whole concoction through a medium-mesh strainer. If you have a "tamis" (pronounced "tammy"), it's the perfect tool for this step.
Let the sauce cool completely then put into sealed jars and store in the refrigerator.
These jars of goodness make Gr8 gifts! Just be sure to add an instruction to keep refrigerated.
*What is a "Non-Reactive" Pan?
Some metals will "react" to the acids in certain foods, such as tomatoes. And it can affect the color and the flavor of the final dish. Reactive pans are made of unlined aluminum, cast iron or copper.
I have a copper pan, but it is lined with tin, so it is non-reactive. Glass, stainless steel, ceramic, enameled or glazed pots and pans, are all non-reactive.
Cast iron, if it is enameled, works well. Just don't use plain, unlined cast iron.
Caribbean Mango Pepper Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 red bell pepper, stem removed, halved and seeded
- 1 yellow bell pepper, stem removed, halved and seeded
- 2 Scotch Bonnet peppers, cut in half, stem and seeds removed *see notes
- 3 medium tomatoes, peeled and seeded
- 1 large ripe mango, peeled and chopped roughly
- 1 medium onion, peeled and chopped roughly
- 3 garlic cloves, peeled and rough chopped
- 6 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- ½ cup light brown sugar
- 2 Tablespoons molasses
- 2 Tablespoons dijon mustard
- 1 Tablespoon cinnamon
- 2 teaspoons cumin
- 1 ½ teaspoons dried thyme
- ¾ teaspoon dried marjoram
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ cup water
Instructions
- Put all of the ingredients into a large non-reactive saucepan. I use my enameled cast iron pot.
- Put this pot of goodness on the stove-top, cover, bring to a boil then immediately turn down to a simmer.
- Tip the cover to let some air escape and simmer gently, with the cover tipped for about an hour.
- Remove from heat.
- Using a blender or immersion blender, purée the ingredients. Careful, it's hot! You can also wait until it cools a bit to do the blending.
- Then put the puréed mixture through a medium mesh strainer. This is the step that makes the silky sauce. If you have a "tamis," pronounced "tammy," this works well for the volume of sauce here.
Be a Gr8 Friend and tell us what you think!