Approx cost: €4
Approx calories (per tablespoon): ~25
Approx preparation and cooking time: 4 hours
The great thing with chutney is that there are so many different ways you can customise it and you can really experiment with different spices to personalise it. I didn’t have any raisins to hand so this recipe is without, although if you have them available they go really well. If you’re lucky enough to have a garden then autumn is a perfect time to make this – any fallen apples and left over tomatoes which never ripened can go straight in – green tomatoes are especially good in chutney because they retain their shape and flavour better after the cooking.
Ingredients
– 1kg Apples (around 7 regular-sized)
– 1kg Tomatoes (around 10 regular-sized)
– 3 good sized onions
– 4-5 cloves of garlic
– 0.5 litres water
– 0.5 litres red wine vinegar
– 150g sugar (~0.75 cups)
– 1 tbsp salt
– 1 tbsp curry powder
– 1 tbsp mustard seeds
– 2 tsp cayenne pepper
– 1 tsp ground ginger
Instructions
- Before you start, verify that you have some empty jars available. You can either use old jam/pickle jars, but special canning jars with the metal clips and rubber seals are really good. Once you’ve got 3 or 4 jars ready start off with the peeling and coring of the apples.
- Chop the apples roughly and place in a large pan with the water. Place on a hot stove and simmer for around 25 minutes until the apples are soft, without losing their shape/integrity.
- While the apples are simmering you can chop up the onions and the tomatoes and mince the garlic.
- Chuck in the tomatoes, onion, garlic, and all the rest of the ingredients into the pan with the apple.
- Place back on the stove and stir everything up until the sugar has dissolved. Bring the pan of ingredients to the boil while stirring and then turn the heat down. Cover the pan and simmer for an hour or so.
- After an hour or so, remove the lid and continue to simmer for an hour or so until excess liquid has disappeared and the chutney has thickened up. Meanwhile, move on to the jars.
- Wash the jars and lids thoroughly and place upside down in an oven preheated to around 180 degrees Celsius for about 10-15 minutes to sterilise them.
- Carefully remove the jars and serve the chutney out into the hot jars. Seal up immediately and leave to cool before storing away. The taste will mature over time and get even better. Serve however you like – with salads, cold meats, curries, breads, cheeses etc.
Helen Smith says
The chutney looks really delicious and I especially like the illustrations. Also nice to know how many apples etc approximately to save weighing when in a hurry.
Kristy says
The sterilizing thing has always freaked me out. I fully intended to make fruit preserves at one point until I learned I had to sterilize jars and I freaked out and didn’t make the preserves. Is it really that easy?
Charles says
It really is! Just be sure to fill them as soon as you take them out of the oven, and seal them immediately. If you don’t have canning jars and are using old preserve pots from stores, the kind with that little “safety seal” button on top, that will even pop down as the contents cool so you know it’s a good air-tight seal. Also… make sure you have some clean heat-proof glove, oven mitt type things on hand because boiling hot glass isn’t the easiest thing to handle :p
Malli's Mint an says
Yes, I took up on your comments from my site and found your secret chutney recipe:)
It is absolutely delicious looking…… I will certainly give it a try if I can find the patience to chop those apples and onions.
Charles says
Hehe, yeah – chopping everything certainly took quite some time. They're very common, but I only just got an apple corer – that's going to be *really* helpful next time I make this!