Chutney

[Aliantha]

As some of you know, my dad has a mango farm, so we're always thinking of ways to make use of the fruit that's not suitable for sale. Dad makes an excellent mango wine with much of it, and I've definitely enjoyed that, but this year I decided to give mango chutney a go. I've never made any jams or preserves of any kind before, so I was a bit nervous about getting it right and not having a large quantity of runny lumpy goo instead of nice thick chutney.

So I looked at a number of recipies and tried to pick out the best bits of them all and this is what I came up with:





The recipe is as follows:

4 large firm (fairly green) chopped mangoes.
1litre apple cider vinegar
1kg jam sugar (with pectin additive)
2 cups chopped preserved ginger
2 cups raisins or sultanas (I used sultanas)
3 teaspoons of mustard seeds
4 whole cloves
4 birdseye chillis

Method:

Bring vinegar and sugar to the boil in a large pot.
Add all other ingredients and bring back to the boil.
Boil for 15 minutes or until mango starts to look slightly translucent.
Using a slotted spoon, remove all fruit and spices
Boil liquid until volume is reduced to approximately half the original amount.
Return fruit to liquid which should be quite syrupy and bring to the boil.
Remove from stove and pour into sterilized preserving jars.

It was so easy, and it turned out really well. If you don't want it to be spicey, you can leave out the chilli.