Help! Chilli advice needed!

[BeeRose30]

I'm making some chilli jam tomorrow for the first time. The recipe I'm using requires 10 red chillis, but when I dashed round the supermarket for the ingredients this evening there were no ordinary red chillis to be found, and in a moment of madness tiredness I grabbed several packets of bird eye chillis. WTF was I thinking?!

I'm now lying awake worrying about how to substitute ordinary, tingly red chillis for bum-blasting bird eyes. Should I just add half the number in the recipe and hope for the best? Can anyone tell me if this is a sensible substitution? This jam will be gracing the table at the family boxing day lunch, so it needs to not be horrifically hot!

I think even half might be too much? How much jam are you making? Take the seeds out whatever the number.

Thanks for replying Linus, I think the recipe makes about 4 jars. You're probably right, half would be too much. I'd rather have it slightly on the mild side than inedible. Maybe 2 without seeds...

Take the seeds out - are they dried? cut the end of and shake - if not deseed with a knife - most of the heat is in the seeds with birds eye chillis.

Yes, two (or even one...) feels about right. Good luck with it. It sounds lovely by the way!

Do use gloves!

I am of the other camp actually, and I struggled to make my chilli jam even remotely hot and ended up putting loads of chilli flakes in so I might be inclined to put in at least half maybe more. I would deseed though.

I've used hotter chillis than that for my chilli jam [inc nagas]. Just add in a load of red peppers, make twice the batch - if you don't like it too hot.

Or - when you put it into the jars, strain it through a sieve first and once the jars are all done, put the contents of the sieve into it's own jar and use those for adding to sauces/chillis/curries etc.

Thanks everyone so much for replying! I've used bird eye chillis in various other things, but never in a preserve, so all your advice is much appreciated. I'm going to put 2 in, no seeds and I really like Doreen's idea of straining it. That would make a lovely fiery concentrated paste for later use. I've got some vinyl gloves somewhere, so will search them out now!