This version of Pepper Choka is less intense than the Ultimate Pepper Choka I shared a few years back, where I used a combination of some of the hottest peppers available to create an extremely spicy condiment. While this version backs off the heat just a little, don’t let that fool you. It’s still packed with bold Caribbean flavor and is a wicked condiment to enjoy with curry dishes, especially Curry Duck, Curry Chicken, Curry Beef, Curry Goat, and even Curry Oxtail.
In preparing this Pepper Choka, it was important for me to strike a balance between modern equipment and traditional preparation. I started on my Traeger Flatrock Griddle to fire-roast the peppers, garlic, and onion, giving them the noticeable char that’s such an important part of the finished flavor. From there, I switched to a traditional Caribbean food mill, though you can just as easily use a food processor or blender to break everything down. Personally, I find the food mill gives me much better control over the finished texture. I like a bit of body to my pepper choka rather than turning it into a completely smooth paste.
May I highly impress upon you to wear gloves when handling Scotch Bonnet peppers. The oils, even from the skin, can irritate your hands long after you’ve finished prepping them. I speak about this in my latest cookbook, Balanced Burn: Tropical Soul, Northern Sizzle, where I dedicate the entire book to Caribbean pepper sauces (hot sauces), including proper pepper handling and safety.
Ingredient Guide
Scotch Bonnet Peppers: The star of this pepper choka, Scotch Bonnets bring fruity flavor along with their signature heat. Roasting them whole develops a smoky sweetness while helping preserve their vibrant character.
Garlic: Fire roasting mellows the sharpness of the garlic and adds a rich, slightly sweet depth that blends beautifully with the peppers.
Red Onion: Roasted until lightly charred, the onion adds natural sweetness and body to the finished pepper choka.
Vegetable Oil: Used during the roasting process to encourage even charring and prevent the vegetables from drying out on the cooking surface.
Limes: Fresh lime juice brightens the pepper choka, balancing the richness of the roasted ingredients while adding the acidity this condiment is known for.
Parsley: Adds freshness and a subtle herbal note without overpowering the peppers.
Chadon Beni (bandanya, culantro): One of the defining herbs in Caribbean cooking, Chadon Beni delivers a bold, unmistakable flavor that’s much stronger than cilantro and pairs perfectly with hot peppers.
Salt: Brings all of the flavors together while enhancing the natural sweetness developed during roasting.
Olive Oil: Added at the end only if needed to loosen the consistency without masking the fresh flavors.
Shopping Made Easy
- Scotch Bonnet peppers are commonly available at Caribbean, West Indian, Latin American, and many Asian grocery stores.
- Chadon Beni (bandanya or culantro) is usually easier to find at Caribbean markets than at traditional supermarkets.
- Fresh limes will provide the brightest flavor. Bottled juice is not recommended for this recipe.
- If you cannot source Chadon Beni, fresh cilantro can be used, although the finished flavor will be noticeably different.
- Food mills are available online and at many kitchen supply stores, though a food processor works well if that’s what you have.
Cooking Notes from the Kitchen
- Roasting the peppers whole helps reduce the amount of capsaicin released into the air compared to cutting them beforehand.
- Cooking outdoors is highly recommended when roasting large quantities of hot peppers.
- A food mill gives you excellent control over the final texture, allowing the pepper choka to retain a bit of body instead of becoming completely smooth.
- Roasting the peppers, garlic, and onion on the Traeger Flatrock develops much of the smoky flavor traditionally achieved during the chunkay step.
- If you prefer a more traditional finish, stir in a little fresh onion and garlic before pouring over hot oil to create the classic chunkay.
Fiery Pepper Choka
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons vegetable oil divided
- 2 dozen Scotch Bonnet peppers
- 20 to 25 cloves garlic
- 1 large red onion roughly chopped
- 5 limes juiced
- 2 tablespoons chopped parsley
- 2 tablespoons chopped Chadon Beni bandanya, culantro
- 3/4 teaspoon salt or to taste
- 2 tablespoons olive oil optional
Instructions
- Wash the peppers, remove the stems, and allow them to air dry.
- Pour 2 tablespoons of the vegetable oil onto your Traeger Flatrock Griddle, or any flat-top griddle, grill, open flame, large frying pan, or even your oven if that's what you have available. Add the whole peppers, garlic cloves, and onion, cut side down.
- Cook over medium heat for about 5 minutes, then drizzle over the remaining tablespoon of vegetable oil. Cover everything using a griddle dome or an inverted pan and continue cooking for another 8 to 12 minutes, making sure to turn everything every 3 to 4 minutes so they char evenly on all sides.
- Important: Try to roast the peppers outdoors if possible, as the aroma and capsaicin released into the air can be quite intense and may leave you coughing. I purposely keep the peppers whole during roasting because cutting them beforehand releases even more of those oils into the air. You’ll experience something similar when grinding the peppers through a food mill or food processor, so be mindful if you’re working indoors. Likewise, be careful when washing your utensils afterward, as the pepper oils can linger. I also try my best never to make this when Pali is around, and especially not when his sisters were younger.
- Once you’ve achieved a nice char on everything, it’s time to set up the food mill and start grinding the ingredients.
- Determine the sort of texture you want your finished Pepper Choka to have. In my case, I like a bit of body to it. If you’re using a food processor or blender instead, I recommend pulsing the ingredients rather than letting the machine run continuously so you have better control over the final consistency.
- Once you have the base, add the chopped Chadon Beni (bandanya, culantro), parsley, salt, and the juice of the limes. If Chadon Beni is difficult to source where you live, cilantro (coriander) can be used as a substitute, although the flavor won’t be exactly the same.
- Give everything a good mix. At this point, if you find the Pepper Choka a little too thick, stir in the olive oil. There’s no need to heat it first.
- I should explain that, traditionally, you would finish this with a chunkay, as I demonstrated in my Murtani (Spicy Choka) recipe. That's where you'd top the choka with thinly sliced onion before pouring smoking hot oil over everything to temper the ingredients. Not only does that quickly remove much of the rawness from the onion, but it also adds another layer of smoky flavor.
- Since I roasted the peppers, garlic, and onion with a generous amount of oil on the Traeger Flatrock, I decided to skip that final chunkay step. Much of that smoky character had already been developed before everything was ground together. You could almost think of it as a reverse Pepper Choka.
- That said, if you enjoy the sharper flavor of a more traditional Pepper Choka, feel free to stir in a little fresh (raw) onion and garlic after grinding everything, then finish it with a hot chunkay if you wish. One of the things I love most about Caribbean cooking is that there's always room to adapt a recipe while still respecting the traditions that inspired it.
- I'd also encourage you to give my Curry King Fish recipe a try and serve this Fiery Pepper Choka as the side condiment. Drop me a comment below if you have your own variation of this recipe, and be sure to watch the accompanying video where I share additional tips and give you a better look at the traditional Caribbean food mill I used.