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Mazavaroo

Mazavaroo chilli · Mazavaroo chilli paste

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Mazavaroo is a Mauritian hot chilli paste of fresh chillies, garlic, salt and oil with lemon or lime. It is kept refrigerated, and the reviewed recipes say it should rest for days before use.

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A coarse red-orange bowl of Mazavaroo, a Mauritian chilli paste with visible chilli flecks and seeds.

A Mauritian chilli paste

Mazavaroo is a chilli paste from Mauritius. It is a plain, hot preparation: fresh chillies, garlic, salt and oil, with citrus for brightness. Its heat comes from the chillies, and the other ingredients carry it. The reviewed Mauritian pages present it as a home staple and a local hot sauce, not as a formal dish.

The name is not explained in the reviewed pages. A secondary recipe site places its roots in Madagascar. The Mauritian pages do not confirm that, and no reviewed source dates the sauce or traces its name to a language or a route. The name also has a Seychelles counterpart, mazavarou, which is a different shrimp condiment and is not described on this page.

Sources for this section

Two ways to make it

The Info Ile Maurice recipe grinds the chillies, garlic, oil and coarse salt into a paste. The salt helps the grinding, and a mortar is recommended, though a processor also works. The paste is cooked briefly, for about two minutes on low heat, in oil that is not olive oil. Cinnamon and turmeric are optional and go in for about thirty seconds. Lime zest goes in off the heat so it stays bright.

The Cult MTL recipe is uncooked. Chillies with the stems removed are blended with garlic, lemon juice, vinegar and about half a cup of oil until smooth, then salted. That method is a blended sauce, not a cooked paste, and the author advises leaving it for at least two days before eating so the flavours meld. The two methods produce different textures and keep for different periods, and this page keeps them as one family rather than one universal recipe.

Sources for this section

Storage and the limits of the record

Both sources keep the paste in the refrigerator. The cooked version is sterilised in jars, covered with a thin layer of oil and refrigerated after opening. The blended version makes two small bottles that the source says keep a couple of weeks refrigerated. Garlic stored in oil is a recognised botulism risk at room temperature, which is why cold storage matters for both forms.

The sources give no yield for the cooked version, no validated shelf life and no test of the keeping time. Onions are advised against because they shorten the life of the sauce, according to the Cult MTL recipe. The sources do not describe an ageing period for the cooked version.

Sources for this section

History

The reviewed Mauritian recipe pages give no date. The Cult MTL article attributes the recipe to a student's father and calls the sauce a Mauritian chilli staple; it does not explain the name. A secondary recipe site claims Madagascan roots for the sauce, which the reviewed pages do not confirm.

Ingredients

Yield 2 small bottles · Scaling: source batch only

Fresh chillies, red and greenStems removed and washed.
200 g
GarlicCrushed and peeled.
6 cloves
Lime zestTwo or three strips of zest, added off the heat; lemon is an acceptable substitute, per the source.
2
The source's word for the zest is unclear; it is read here as lime zest.
Coarse saltHelps the grinding.
5 g
Vegetable oil (canola, peanut or sunflower)Olive oil is not used in the reviewed recipe.
60 mL
Ground cinnamon (optional)Optional.
2.5 mL½ tsp as recorded
Ground turmeric (optional)Optional.
2.5 mL½ tsp as recorded
Ground cumin (optional)Optional.
Amount not stated
A quarter coffee spoon in the source.

Method

Risks and precautions · Standard risk

Garlic held in oil is a botulism risk at room temperature; keep the paste refrigerated, as both sources direct.

The Cult MTL recipe says onions spoil the sauce faster and are best left out.

No validated shelf life or safe keeping period is given beyond the two-week refrigerated figure in one recipe.

  1. Remove the stems from the chillies and wash them. Peel and crush the garlic. Collect the lime zest.
  2. Grind the chillies, garlic, oil and coarse salt to a paste in a mortar and pestle; a food processor also works. The salt helps the grinding.
  3. Heat oil in a saucepan over low heat and add the paste. Cook gently for about two minutes. The source advises against olive oil.
  4. If using, stir in the cinnamon and turmeric for about 30 seconds.
  5. Take the pan off the heat, add the lime zest and let the mixture rest for a few minutes.
  6. Sterilise the jars in the oven. When the mixture has cooled, pour it in and cover the top with about 5 ml of vegetable oil.
  7. Keep refrigerated after opening. The Cult MTL recipe, a blended uncooked version, says to let it stand for at least two days before eating and that two small bottles keep for a couple of weeks refrigerated.

Conditions

Yield2 small bottles
Temperature controlRefrigerated

Places

Mauritius

Documented preparation · Country evidence

Both recipe pages present the sauce as Mauritian; neither gives a locality or a date.

See Mauritiuson the mapLocation source 1 → · Location source 2 →

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Sources