My lovely friend Karen brought me some hot hot hot “Devil’s Tongue” peppers from her garden, asking if I took requests for the blog. And when she said I could have the peppers if I made hot sauce and shared the recipe, I was TOTALLY in!
I was debating what to do with them, and thought of my favourite hot sauces — spicy, but still with good flavour, and some sweetness and acidity to balance out the heat. I had recently made a green tomato chutney (from Food in Jars by Marisa McClellan — it’s WONDERFUL!), full of my favourite warming spices: star anise, cinnamon, cloves, and ginger, along with some brown sugar and a lot of apple cider vinegar. So I took some inspiration from the chutney, and some from my favourite hot sauces, and went with a hot sauce spiced with allspice, cinnamon, cloves, apple cider vinegar, and brown sugar. And yes, it’s awesome.
I tend to get into trouble chopping hot peppers (I’ve even had to come up with the term Spicy Eye), so these went into the food processor along with the sweet bell peppers and the garlic. It made everything EASY, but fair warning: you might want to hold your breath when you open the lid of the food processor to take out the mash. Those fumes will get you!!!
Homemade hot sauce, thanks to Karen and the crazy hot Devil’s Tongue peppers! Now I just need to whip up some chickpea curry to go with it!
Hot Sauce for Karen
This hot sauce is HOT and flavourful — it reminds me of my favourite Trinidadian hot sauces. A little goes a long way… and you might want to open the windows while this is bubbling away on the stovetop.
- 2 (red, yellow, or orange) bell peppers, quartered
- 1 cup hot peppers, stems removed
- 1 bulb of garlic, peeled
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
- 1/2 teaspoon allspice
- 2 whole cloves
- 1 Tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Place the bell peppers, hot peppers, and garlic in the bowl of a food processor. Blitz until you have a fine paste (and be careful about inhaling the fumes!).
Combine all ingredients in a pot. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then turn down to low and simmer for 40 minutes, with the windows open and a fan on to vent the fumes.
Let cool completely, then store in an airtight container in the fridge. Enjoy!
Kitchen Operas 
You are brilliant!! My mouth is watering and my cheeks are tingling as I read this 🙂 I love the idea of cinnamon & cloves! I’ll be trying this recipe tonight!! Thank you for much!!! Mwah!!
Let me know how you like it! It’s HOT HOT HOT!!!!
Thanks for the peppers, and for the inspiration! 😀
Can you can this sauce?
Hi Linda — this recipe is NOT developed for canning. It is important to only use canning-specific recipes when canning for food safety.
Lindsay, thank you for letting me know.
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It’s kinda thick what can I use to thin it for easy pour?
I’d use a neutral vegetable oil — like grapeseed oil.