MR STEVE’S CHILLI CHUTNEY
I have an abundance of cayenne chillies at the moment and I have been making chilli jam using a recipe from the Food Lovers Recipe web site with great success.
I was keen on trying a copy of Mrs Balls chutney but the recipes out there are heavy on the dried fruit which is very expensive and not much in the way of chillies.
So I have come up with my own version using guidance from others. Using canned fruit is so much more cost effective than dried fruit so I’ve tried a mix.
- 250 g chopped cayenne chillies
- 500 g finely chopped onions
- 500 g dried apricots
- 1 large tin of canned peaches
- 500 ml of brown spirit vinegar
- 1.25 liter of brown spirit vinegar
- 2.5 kg of white sugar
The day before you plan to cook your chutney, soak the apricots in the 500 ml of spirit vinegar. Leave in the fridge overnight. Drain the apricots and retain the small amount of “juice”. Drain the peaches and add the syrup to the liquid from the apricots.
Finely chop up the apricots, chilli, onion and peaches. Place all the ingredients into a large pot including the liquids from the apricots and peaches. Get it up to a rolling boil and cook for up to two hours. but appearance must be your guide.
You want a glossy appearance that thickens when cooled on a cold plate but not too thick like a jam.
Bottle into sterilized glass bottles. Ensure lids are also sterile. Clean the rims of the bottles and close. Store upside down until cool. Ensure the lids have sealed.
Recipe and photo: Steven Macdonald