Aji Colorado paste

Traditional South American condiment, but useful flavor addition to many dishes. Full of rich flavor, medium heat.

Source: http://www.okiedokieartichokie.me/2012/04/how-to-make-aji-colorado/ (Entered by Lara Rasmussen Anderson)
Serves: 1 icecube tray's worth

Ingredients

Step by Step Instructions

1. Sun-dry or dehydrate chiles until shrunken and crispy.
2. Use kitchen shears to lop off the stems of the dried chiles and then cut all along the side, lengthwise, exposing the innards and discarding the seeds and membranes. Grab a large fry pan and set it over high heat. Toss the chiles onto the hot pan and toast until fragrant, pliable, and slightly charred, about 1-2 minutes, flipping on other side halfway in between. It might be a good idea to open up the window and turn on the exhaust fan because these can get sort of strong as they cook. ***WEAR GLOVES!
3. Put the chiles into a large bowl and pour enough boiling water to submerge them. Let them reconstitute until they’re very soft, about 10 minutes.
4. Grab the chiles with tongs and put them in a blender. Add about 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons of the water they were sitting in and blend together until a somewhat smooth paste forms. The consistency should be pourable. If it’s too chunky, add more water, one tablespoon at a time.
5. At this point you can either put all of it into a glass jar and refrigerate it, which should last you a couple weeks.
6. Or measure out tablespoon amounts, put them into ice cube trays, freeze them, and then dump them out into a bag to stash in the freezer for whenever you need just a bit. You don’t even have to defrost it before adding it to your pot of cooking, you just toss it right in. Unless, you’re using it as a marinade, in which case you’d have to toss it in the microwave for half a minute to soften slightly.

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