DR USAHAWANTANI: Processing fresh chili into dried chili!

Dried chilies are one of the most important ingredients to Malaysian people because dried chilies produce spicy flavor that make foods more delicious. Our country has to import lots of dried chilies for domestic uses and to make chili paste. Technology to process fresh chilies into dried chilies is easy, simple and practical.

Chilies need to be chosen properly before harvested and will be dried under sunlight for few days. The most suitable season to dry the chilies is on dry season when there is low rain because chilies can dry faster during dry season compared to other season. Only red chilies will be chosen to be harvested while chilies that are still green will be left until it turns red. Fresh red chilies that have been harvested then have to undergo grading process to dispose bad chilies or poor quality chilies. Then, chilies that have been dried will be graded and packed before it is store in warehouse or exported to the market.

However, there is extra tip which is important before we dry the chilies. Prepare hot sulfite solution with concentration between 0.2%. 20gram of Calcium Metabisulfite or Natrium Bisulfite is added into 20 liter of water. This solution then will be left heated for few minutes.

Blanching process is a process where the chilies can be dipped into hot Calcium Metabisulfite or Natrium Bisulfite for 3 minutes. Every 1kilogram of chili need 2 liter of sulfite solution. The main purpose of this activity is to make the drying process faster and preventing it from turning bad due to fungus. In additional cases, some farmers will cut chili into half but the seeds will remained in the chili. But the disadvantage for this method is it only suitable for local market only. This is because farmers need to provide extra cost for labors because it need more work than it should be.

After 3 minutes, chili will be lifted and drained, chili’s seed that left apart during blanching process also will lifted and drained. To minimize the cost, this solution can be use many times.

Next process is drying process. After the chili undergo blanching process, chilies with their seeds will be dried under the sunlight or as better option, farmers can dry it in oven. The suitable temperature for drying process is about 45°C if the oven have fan inside it and cannot over than 79°C for normal oven. Chili need to be dried until the water content inside the chili is below 9%. Then dried chilies are pack into tight container use to prevent water vapor flow inside the container. Chilies need to store in dry area and not to humid.

Grinding the chili powder is the last process before it will be marketed for local or exported to other places. Dried chili need to grind before it will become chili powder. For industrial scale, dried chili will be grind into powder using hammer mill. But if it for small scale, dried chili can be grind using blender. After undergo grinding process, chili powder then undergo filtering process. Chili powder then will be pack into airtight glass bottle or airtight plastic bottle. Chili powder is sprinkle on the food to make it more appetizing.