The best crispy chili garlic oil recipe

Chilli oil is one of my favourite condiments. I tend to add it to almost all my meals especially meaty dishes and curries.

You honestly can not go wrong with chilli oil because you get to curate everything to your specification.  Also, it has no chemical/added additives and the spiciness is perfectly raw.

Ingredients.

• ¼ cup pumpkin seeds
• ¼ cup sunflower seeds (optional)
• 1 tbsp black sesame seeds
• 1 tbsp granulated sugar
•  1 (2-inch) piece ginger (peeled and minced)
• 1 ¼ cups|peanut/vegetable oil
• 15 garlic cloves (peeled and minced)
• ¼ cup sesame oil
• 1 cup of Red Thai or Red cayenne peppers. 
• Habanero peppers (optional)
• Cinnamon sticks
• Cardamon seeds
•  2 tbsp paprika
• salt to taste 

Method 

Toast the pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds in a deep cooking pan over medium heat until lightly golden and the pumpkin seeds begin to pop.

Allow to completely cool, then transfer to a medium bowl with the black sesame seeds, sugar, and ginger. Mix evenly then set a fine-mesh sieve over the top and strain the mixture into a bowl.

If you are using fresh peppers, sundry them beforehand for a couple of days or toast them in the oven for about 3-4 hours at 140 degrees. Or you can buy pre-ground red chilli flakes, to save on time and effort.

If you chose to toast them in the oven, put them in the blender and give them a few pulses until coarsely ground then wait for them to settle.

Note: don't smell the fumes as this can lead to you getting badly choked.  

In a medium saucepan, heat the vegetable oil with the crushed garlic. Stirring occasionally until the garlic is golden don't allow it to burn as that will alter the taste.

Put the ground peppers in a saucepan, making sure it's hollow enough so that it doesn’t pour when putting in the oil. Add in the paprika and salt Allow the garlic to completely cool before adding it to the bowl with the earlier prepared ingredients. 

In another saucepan on medium heat, pour in the oil and add in the cardamom seeds and 2 cinnamon sticks. Stir and let oil cook for like 3-5 mins, you should see the spices beginning to float. Remove from heat and remove the spices from the oil.

Let the oil cool for like a minute or two on a heat-proof surface, you don’t want to cook the chilli.

Slowly pour in the oil in the bowl that has the chilli, it should have a nice sizzle to it. Gently stir all the ingredients ensuring they're well combined.

Allow cooling then store in a mason jar, for future use.