We cleared the tomatoes out of the greenhouse and they needed using up. I had a mixture of ripe and green tomatoes. This Chilli and Tomato Chutney makes perfect use of them.
I like to cook the onion in a little olive oil first to soften and sweeten it, but you can miss this step out if you prefer and just pop everything in a saucepan and simmer until thick.
Ingredients
I tbsp olive oil (optional, only needed if you want to sauté the onion first)
1 onion, chopped into small dice
4 garlic cloves
half teaspoon of salt
4 chillis (deseeded)
5cm fresh ginger (root)
1 star anise
1tsp black mustard seeds
1 tsp coriander seeds
500g tomatoes (more or less, don’t worry if you have a few more or a few less than this)
250g sugar (you can use soft brown for a darker colour and stronger taste or granulated white)
150ml vinegar (you can use whichever variety you have in the cupboard, I used distilled white vinegar)
Method
If you would like to soften the onion, add the oil to a large pan over a medium heat and sauté the chopped onion until soft, translucent and beginning to colour.
Chop the garlic, chillis, ginger and tomatoes finely. I whizzed them in the food processor using the metal blade.
When the onion is ready add the star anise, coriander seeds and mustard seeds and fry for another minute then add the chopped garlic, ginger, chillis and tomatoes. Stir in the sugar and the vinegar and bring to a boil. As soon as it boils, lower the heat and simmer until it has reduced to a thick consistency which very little extra liquid. This took 40 minutes for me, it may take less or longer for you.
Sterilise some jars. This amount filled two jars for me. Once the chutney has thickened take it off the heat and leave it to cool for about twenty minutes before carefully spooning the mixture into clean jars and sealing.
The chutney is good to eat straightaway but the vinegariness will soften if it is allowed to sit for a week before eating.
