Let's Talk Chutney

Do you like chutney? Do you even know what chutney IS? Yeah, I didn't either, other than that it sounded impossibly British somehow.

Turns out, chutney is kind of British, but only by way of India. It's a condiment, made from pretty much, well, anything. Mostly fruit, with the addition of hot peppers, vinegar, sugar, and spices. Sound kind of gross? It does, I admit, but it totally works.

My introduction to chutney came a few years ago courtesy of the MiL's friend Jane. Yes, her name really is Jane, and she is originally from Yorkshire. They do chutneys in a BIG way in Britain. Jane makes her own, from whatever fruit she might come across. She even sells it at her church's bake sales and things. Jane's practically a professional when it comes to chutney.

I think the first of her chutneys I tasted was an apple chutney. I tasted it from the jar and honestly, kind of shuddered. It was just very . . . strong. What with all the spices and the heat and the vinegar, chutney is not a bland food, to say the least. But put it on a curry, which is the traditional use for it, and some strange alchemy happens.

That's how I discovered that chutney is DELICIOUS.

But still, I only used it on curries, which we don't really make all that often. Then the MiL was making her usual corn tortilla and cheese microwaved until the cheese melts, but she added some chutney on it. And Cubby, as is his habit, begged for a bite. He took that bite, then he took another, and another, and another.

Cubby loves chutney on corn tortillas with cheese.

And why not, right? It's sweet, but savory, with a little bit of heat. It is, in fact, much like a fruit salsa, but with a lot more spices in it.

Chutney, as I have mentioned, can be made from almost anything--pears, apples, red tomatoes, apricots--but the most useful application for chutney for me is as a way to dispose of multitudes of green tomatoes. Of which I always have many.

So, without further ado, here is Yorkshire Jane's Green Tomato Chutney, exactly as she wrote it out for me last fall in her very British voice. Make some. You won't be sorry.

Yorkshire Jane's Green Tomato Chutney

2 lbs. green tomatoes

8 oz. onions

8 oz. apples

4 oz. sultanas (yellow raisins)

2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. cayenne pepper

1 tsp. dry mustard

8 oz. sugar

10 oz. malt vinegar

All measures are English. Although the vinegar isn't too far off, I'd be inclined to start with less and if you use American vinegar its acidity is 5% and English is 4% and I used to be aware of this back in Houston but then I forgot and all my pickles made after I came here are much too strongly vinegary so I'd dilute with water to get to 4%. We don't use measuring spoons (or measuring cups either) and the teaspoons mean just that: a teaspoon rounded so there's as much above the lip as in the bowl.

Chop the tomatoes and put them in a preserving pan with the peeled and chopped apples and onions. Add about half the vinegar and cook gently until the tomatoes and apples are soft, keeping the mixture well stirred. Then add the rest of the vinegar and all the other ingredients and continue to cook steadily until the chutney thickens. This should not take longer than 15 minutes. This chutney has a tendency to dry out, so make sure you don't overcook it; pot while it is still slightly runny and cover.

Some notes from Kristin: This next time I make this, I'll probably use just a bit less sugar, as I like it a little less sweet. Chutney is all about the balance of flavors, so make sure to taste it and adjust the vinegar or sugar or whatever as needed. Chutney will be about the consistency of jam when it's cooled, but it will thicken as it cools, so you don't want to cook it to the consistency you really want it to be in the end, but a little runnier. If that made sense. It did, despite Jane's admonition, take longer than 15 minutes for me. I canned this using, I think, the directions for a different chutney recipe in my Ball Blue Book of Preserving. Jane later told me this should sit in the jars for about a year to reach the optimum flavor, and it will keep in the refrigerator for just about forever. Months, anyway, so you don't absolutely have to can it if you don't want to.

Edited to add with some more notes because I just made this and remembered some stuff: Probably the reason I had to cook it longer than 15 minutes is because I double the recipe. Duh. Also, I use only about half the cayenne called for because I can't take a lot of heat. As written, this recipe will make a pretty spicy chutney. I didn't have yellow raisins this time, so I just used regular ones. I think the yellow raisins are specified just because the end result is a pale green chutney and yellow raisins look prettier. I didn't have malt vinegar this time, either, so I used plain white, but I meant to use cider vinegar, except I grabbed the white first and chucked it in before I thought about it. You can see with what great care I cook.