Old Dower House Chutney
It's late in the season but the last of the green tomatoes are still hanging around. If our fried green tomatoes recipe didn't pique your interest, why not try making a delicious chutney instead?
Ingredients:
700g (1.5 lbs) plums, preferably Victoria
225g (8oz) green or red tomatoes
225g (8oz) onions
700g (1.5 lbs) cooking apples weighed after coring and quartering (which is approximately 900g (2lb) to start)
450g (1lb) seedless raisins
110g (4oz) ginger preserved in syrup
5g (1/4 oz) finely chopped garlic
570ml (1 pint) malt vinegar
700g (1.5 lb) Demerara sugar
1.5 tablespoons salt
5g (1/4 oz) whole dried chilli peppers
Directions:
Wash, half and de-stone plums. Chop tomatoes roughly. Put tomatoes and plums into large preserving pan.
Use a food processor to finely chop the onions, apples, raisins and ginger together. Add to a heated pan, along with the chopped garlic, vinegar, sugar and salt.
Tie chillies and suspend them in the mixture from the handle of the pan. You can use a culinary gauze bag, or spear with a toothpick and tie on a string.
Cook very slowly for 1-1.5 hours, stirring occasionally especially near the end, until most of the liquid has evaporated. Drag a wooden spoon through it; if it leaves a channel imprinted on top for a few seconds without filling up with vinegar then it’s done.
Put the chutney into hot sterilised jars while it is still hot and tighten the lid. Label when the jars are cold.
Notes:
We have it on very good authority that this chutney - while delicious the day-of - also ages like a fine wine, with it reaching peak perfection after 3 years!
This original Delia Smith recipe has been thoughtfully tested and shared by the Jackson family / Allington W.I.