Hang Colorful Strings of Chili Peppers for the Holidays!
Create a colorful strand of red and green chili peppers—called a ristra—to hang outdoors for a unique holiday decoration. Here’s how:
Traditionally made in Mexico at harvest time, chili strands can be made with peppers from your supermarket or leftover peppers from your garden.
What You Need to Make Ristra
How many peppers you will need will depend on the type you use. If using small chili peppers, you may need around 35 to 50; with large chilies, you may need about 15 to 20.
How to Make a Decorative Chili Ristra
- Cut a piece of fine wire about 14 inches long.
- Wrap one end of the wire tightly around a whole head of garlic.
- Carefully use a large needle to poke a hole through the base of the chili pepper stems and string them onto the wire, starting from the bottom, so that they fan out, forming a spiral.
- Twist the top of the wire into a loop for hanging, and tie on a bright red or green bow.
The chili strand will dry and remain colorful for months. It’s very festive and refreshingly different at the holidays!
Have you ever made a ristra? Tell us about it in the comments!
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In the Southwest, where the weather is hot and dry, ristras are a popular way to preserving peppers and garlic for future use. In that climate, a couple days of hanging outside is often enough to dry them out. If you live in an area where mold or rot seem likely to kick in before your rista can dry, you can jumpstart the process by drying your rista in a 140-degree oven. In some cases, peppers will dry in about four hours, though often it takes longer. As for the garlic, it serves dual purpose as a weight at the end of your string and the dried garlic makes excellent seasoning in its own right!
It depends on the type of chile peppers that you use. Small ones, you would need much more than larger types. For 14-inch string, perhaps use 35 to 50 small ones. For large types, about 12 or 14? That’s just a guess, though.
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