Following on the heels of the Quilter Street Olives last year, I received quite a bit of interest, advice and sympathy 
Simon Robinson at House of Fraser not only passed on advice and enthusiasm, but also turned up in the office one day with a small chilli plant – a donation to the tiny ‘garden’. Dista, Helga’s mum, provided two tomato plants and so all I had to do was sit back and await the sunshine…
However, siince nothing much has ripened this year I decided to make the most of my adversity and knock off a green tomato and chilli chutney.
Chutneys are essentially ‘something edible’ boiled in a mix of sugary stuff and vinegary stuff. With some spice. I had a look on the web, at a recommended Jamie Oliver recipe, and the most excellent Forkd, but could find anything that matched my “needs” (aka limited supplies).
Picked, our tomatos yielded c250g and the chillies a wonderful 6g. I supplemented this harvest (ahem) with a pack of toms going mouldy in the fridge, some onions from the bottom of a bag from our hols, a fridge-burned stump of ginger root – and resorted to the shops for a couple of apples, some more vinegar and the sugar.
Rough ingredients were:
- ‘leg’ of ginger, grated to a pulp
- 4 tiny chillies
- 4 small onions – overgrown shallot size
- 2 apples, peeled, cored and chopped
- 250g green toms, 450g squashy red ones
- half pint malt vinegar
- quarter pint of balsamic vinegar
- 500g (ish) of brown sugar
- Few handsful of raisins or sultanas.
Recipe is easy. Blend, bash, grate or mouli everything till it looks the way you like. Toss it all in a pan. Boil until it’s about the consistency you like and then transfer to short-term accommodation or preserving jars.
Recipe amendments would be:
- swap the ratios of balsamic and malt vinegars
- caremelise the onions before adding to the tomato mix
- less sugar
- add in some lemon juice or use tarter apples
- one more chilli.
It was a good fun activity for a raining Saturday afternoon with the kids.
Next year it’s time to get a mulberry bush or a gooseberry bush (to be grown in a large pot). Thoughts/advice on either gratefully received, either in the comments or by email.
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