Mazavaroo

Mazavaroo, a well-loved Mauritian hot chilli sauce that is traditionally made with chillies, ginger, garlic, preserved lemons and spices. Many Mauritians will eat it with everything from curries and breads to fruits. This version we made is a little different from the traditional version, but it is equally as tasty! You can use just about any chilli variety for this recipe. We used green bird’s eye chillies.

Ingredients

• 200g green bird’s eye chillies
• 50g onion
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 teaspoon ginger
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil

Remove the seeds from the chillies. Using gloves will help to avoid those nasty eye burns should you touch your eyes. Blend all the ingredients together. A personal blender or hand blender works best for this. Add the blend to a saucepan and gently simmer to reduce the liquid so that the blend forms a thick paste. Pour the mixture into sterilised jars and seal. Refrigerate after opening and use within a month.

Using Mazavaroo

Mazavaroo can be used wherever you would use chopped chillies. Use it in sauces, curries and pasta recipes. It goes well with seafood, braaied meats or braaied mielies. It is even as a taster with bread and cheese so we definitely recommend using it on your next cheese board.

Watch Tanya Visser make a delicious mazavaroo with home-grown chillies.

Learn more about chilli varieties and how to grow your own chillies