Kebab shop chilli sauce – takeaway style, authentic, no cook and as hot as you like. Slimming World Syn Free.
A little goes a long way with this kebab shop chilli sauce; perfect for drizzling over grilled meat and chicken, dolloping on rice, or for perking up a bolognese or stew. It tastes just like the hotter than Hades sauce you get at your local takeaway, but it’s surprisingly easy to make with just 6 readily available ingredients. Plonk them into your blender and away you go. As well as delicious it is Slimming World Syn Free and only has 15Kcal per serving.
We are fortunate that we actually have a proper Turkish Ocakbasi kebab house near to us, where meat is cooked over a charcoal fire; normally on kebab skewers but also lamb chops, chicken breast and similar cuts. It’s also our local doner kebab shop, but it’s a long way from living down to the dubious reputation that such a description might imply. The meat is simply but well cooked on the charcoal, and served with tasty unleavened bread, rice and salads. A dash of hot sauce like this one adds a bit of a kick to the meal, and is so good I had to replicate it to make at home.
I find that the real trick to a homemade kebab shop chilli sauce is actually not to overdo the heat. You could go mad, searching out the most ridiculously hot peppers you can source and create your own substitute for edible lava, but I prefer something that’s a little more nuanced. There are degrees of this, of course; it’s still a chilli sauce, but it does have a depth of flavour that comes from the secret ingredient: jarred mint sauce (which of course will go so well with grilled lamb).
Top Tip for Preparing Hot Chillies
A top tip when slicing the chillies wrap some cling film loosely round your fingers so your don’t touch them – even after washing your hands it is SO easy to rub your eyes and the pain is intense, even when taking out your contact lenses hours later. If you are chopping lots of chillies I would use a pair of latex gloves, but for the odd one cling film is ideal and a huge improvement on trying to chop up the chillies with a kitchen knife and fork; yes I have tried and failed with that, and I wish I’d thought of the cling film years ago.
Scotch bonnets are hot hot hot! Pick a different chilli if you prefer, or want more chilli flavour without the heat. I also try and use premium canned tomatoes, finding that the extra few pennies really make a difference, as the tomatoes will be altogether better – thicker, richer, sweeter, a better colour and far more intense.
What to do with leftover homemade kebab shop chilli sauce?
Simply spoon into an ice cube tray (I keep a tray just for freezing sauces like this in) and freeze, pop the sauce cubes out once frozen and store in a plastic box. I find that one large frozen cube of kebab shop chilli sauce is perfect for the two of us.
Slimming World Syn Free.
- 1 can tomatoes
- 1 tbs tomato puree
- 1 small Scotch bonnet chilli - chopped, seeds and membranes discarded
- 1 small onion - peeled and roughly chopped
- 2 cloves garlic - peeled and sliced
- 1 tsp mint sauce
- 1 tbs white wine vinegar
- 1 pinch salt to taste
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Place all the ingredients into a blender and whizz. until almost smooth - I like some texture, but you want to really blitz up that chilli.
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Season to taste with salt.
Avoid touching the chilli when preparing it - I wrap my fingers loosely in a piece of cling film. You can use a tablespoon fresh mint and add a little more vinegar or a squeeze of lemon, but the sauce will lose that authentic Kebab shop taste. Keeps for a week in the fridge. Leave for 24 hours before eating to allow the flavours to meld.
6 Facts about chillis
- Chilli heat is measured on the Scoville scale. The current hottest chilli, the Carolina Reaper with over 1.5 million Scoville heat units is five hundred times hotter than tabasco sauce. A bell pepper has a rating of 1.
- The heat in chillis is from capsicum, concentrated in the seeds and membranes, discard or keep these according to how much heat you want.
- Chillis originated in the Americas, and are a member of the nightshade family along with potatoes, tomatoes, aubergines and bell peppers.
- Chillis are a great source of vitamin C, with a higher concentration than oranges.
- The best way of counteracting the heat of a chilli is with milk. A cool beer might seem like a good idea, but a cold glass of milk does better against the heat.
- Chilli can be spelled either chilli or chili, depending which side of the Atlantic you are from.
If you love sauce you may also enjoy my Quick and Easy Healthy Tartare Sauce
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This looks glorious. It would be great on a burger too. I am a chilli wuss, so a small layer for me.
it would be ace on a burger!
Time to cook up some fried chicken! I found a new promising dipping sauce!
it would be amazing with fried chicken.
Brilliant recipe Helen, shall be keeping hold of this one.
Jane x
We love this one. So good!
This looks great! I love a hot chilli and the idea of having proper kebab shop chilli sauce at home is great!
I love chillies, really like the flavour, but not too much heat!
What a great and easy recipe! Thanks for the inspiration. I’ve been growing my own chilies so definitely trying this.
Thanks Julia,
So easy – just bung it all in a blender or food processor! I wish I could grow chillies without killing them!
We don’t have kebab shops here, but we do love chili sauce and this looks like a great one to add some spice to all sorts of dishes! And I’ll have to give the plastic wrap trick a try. I’ve done the fork and knife thing too and it never works as well as I wish.
The plastic wrap works a treat – such a simple hack.
I’ve always been scared of using scotch bonnets! Maybe I’ll get my (braver) partner to make this as he loves cooking and spicy food
They sell massive scoops of them in the market for £1 – who on earth can get through 50 of them I wonder?
When my friend was here visiting from Turkey, we’d make lamb kebabs all the time. I sure do miss the authentic recipes he’d share with me. Can’t wait to give this a try!
I love a good lamb kebab!
Hubby loves chilli sauce, so will be making him some! :)
how hot will it be? Hope he enjoys it.
I love anything with a spicy kick and this looks yummy – definitely making this
It is so good Kara, and it freezes really well too.
We’re not great with chilli but would be tempted to give this a go as dipping sauce for chicken kebabs forour summer BBQs :) yummy x
it would be lovely as a dipping sauce!
I think if I did try this at home I would go a little crazy on the hotness of it lol but it looks delicious
Just use less chilli and make sure to scrape off all the membranes and seeds
Ooh we love chilli sauce and put it on everything! I’ve never thought to make our own though! Must give it a try!
So easy to make your own, also no preservatives etc in it.
I love anything that is spicy and this kebab shop chilli sauce sounds amazing. I will be careful to not touch my face though lol!
it is so easy to touch your face, even after scrubbing your hands.
sounds delicious! I wouldn’t add too much chili because I can’t deal with it but the rest of the ingredients sound yummy! Thanks for sharing x
I love the taste buy equally cannot stand too much heat – just use less or a different type of chilli.
This chilli sauce sounds really good. I love chilli sauce with kebabs but know what you mean if the chillies are too hot it doesn’t work so well.
I think less of really hot chillies rather than more of a milder one works better.
Looks great. Thanks for chilli preparing tips very helpful!
I love my cling film trick! So very very useful.
I bet that tastes amazing, great to have to hand for some tasty BBQs!
It would be perfect for BBQs!
My mouth is watering! I love kebabs and I adore the sauce – I always order extra to dip chips in!