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1
Set the chillies, unpeeled shallots, and unpeeled garlic directly over an open flame or in hot coals, turning them as each face blackens — the skins act as a slow buffer, so the flesh steams and softens from within rather than scorching dry. The exterior of the chillies must be completely blackened and blistered all over; the shallots and garlic skins should be charred through to papery ash. The chilli interior should yield slightly when pressed but still carry a faint resistance — it is not cooked through.
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2
Remove from the heat and, when cool enough to handle, peel the charred skins from the shallots and garlic so their sweet, smoke-edged flesh goes into the relish clean. Do not peel the chillies — the blackened skin fragments remain in the relish and contribute texture and depth, so discard only any skin that falls away of its own accord.
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3
Place the charred chillies in the mortar first, add the salt, and pound to break them open, so the salt draws out their moisture and smoke evenly before the other aromatics are added. Add the shallots and garlic and pound to a rough, coarse paste — visible fragments of charred chilli skin should remain throughout, and the colour of the finished relish should be a deep, burnished green-black. Pound no further once a rough paste is achieved, or the relish will turn muddy and lose the texture that defines it.
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4
Taste and adjust salt only. The relish should be mildly hot, deeply smoky, and pungently aromatic — no lime juice, no fish sauce.