There is nothing quite like making and enjoying your very own table condiments, not only does it taste great and save you on costs, but it also
gives you the advantage of knowing exactly what you are putting into your body.
It is that time of the year, the mango season has come to an end, but luckily we still have quite a bit of dried mango in stock, and that is very convenient for those times that you run out of fresh fruit to work with.
Using dried mango in the same recipes that you would normally use fresh fruit for, is just as tasty in fact sometimes even more, I wouldn't for example make jam from dried mango, but it does work wonders in making mango chutney
Here is one of the dried mango recipes that I have been using - I often adapt this recipe to seasonal availability or scale it to the amount of fruit that I have on hand.
First of all I started by chopping some of the dried mango that I had up into smaller chunks - this can be done according to preference - some people enjoy large chunky fruit pieces in their chutney while others prefer the smoother finish in stead, I for one enjoy it somewhere in the middle - I want my fruit pieces big enough so that I can tell what I am biting into and get the full sensation of the fruit, but small enough so that it can spread nicely over you food dish without it being a side on its own.
Once these pieces were chopped up, and I had about 5 cups of chopped dried fruit, I covered them in some water and let that sit while I prepped the rest of the ingredients, and measured out the cup of raisins that I was planning on adding to the mix.
Next, I shifted my attention to the savory side of this condiment.
I roughly diced up two large onions and finely chopped 4 garlic cloves to go into the pot. Then I started on the chilly peppers. Again when it comes to things like garlic or chilli's, this is completely and utterly a question of taste - personally I love spicy food, and garlic has always been a favorite for me. I would often make various batches labeled 'plain' 'mild' & 'hot' when it comes to stuff I make for the house or intend on selling at the market. This specific batch was hot and for that reason I chopped up 15 hot chili peppers to go into the mix.
Here is how its made:
I combined 750 gr of brown sugar along with 500ml of white spirit vinegar in a large heavy base pot on the stove over high heat, and brought the mixture to the boil allowing the sugar to dissolve, then I added the diced dried mango, raisins, onions, garlic and chilly into that mixture along with some salt to taste, and stirred the mixture well.
Then I turned the heat down low, and I let the mixture slowly simmer and reduce while the flavors blissfully marry in the pot.
In this case it took close to five hours (but cooking time will vary according to the batch size) of waiting and occasional stirring before the chutney seemed to have reached the required consistency. But then again, it was certainly worth the wait...
Recap - Recipe:
5 Cups Dried Mango (you can replace this with fresh mango if available)
1 Cup Dried Raisins(You can replace this with currents, fresh- or dried berries of your choice)
2 Large Chopped Onions
4 Garlic cloves
15 Chilly Peppers
750gr Brown sugar
500ml White Spirit Vinegar
5ml Salt (or salt to taste)
- Place the sugar and vinegar in a pot on the stove over high heat and stir constantly until the sugar has dissolved.
- Then add the rest of your ingredients and turn the heat down.
- Allow the mixture to simmer for about 5 hours stirring occasionally.
- Once ready the chutney should be thick and chunky.
- The chutney is then ready to be bottled or packed into sterilized containers and can be enjoyed as a "relish" with any meal of your choice.
Sterilizing & Sealing Your Bottles:
I normally take my jam jars, and place them along with their lids in boiling water and let them boil away for about 20 - 30 seconds before removing them and placing them on a clean dry kitchen towel upside down. The heat of the bottles will quickly evaporate any water droplets that were inside the bottles and lids, while the bottles are still hot - I fill them with the chutney then screw the lids on tightly and place them in a tray upside down, this allows the bottles to seal properly.
Another thing that I have really been enjoying to do lately is fermenting fruits and veg. And I decided, seeing that I am busy in the kitchen already I might as well make a bottle of fermented cabbage seeing that I still had some fresh cabbage left in the fridge that I did not want to let go to waste.
Fermenting vegetables is easier than you might think, all it is is your vegetables of choice submerged in strong salt water.
For the cabbage I used a tablespoon of salt along with 750ml of water, and shredded the left over cabbage thinly. I packed the cabbage tightly into a jar (for this you do not need to be as strict with sterilizing your bottles as long as they have been cleaned thoroughly) ten poured over the salt water mixture. Next I took a bamboo skewer and prodded along the inside of the bottle, trying to get as much of the trapped air bubbles out of the bottle, and finally I placed a folded cabbage leaf at the top of the bottle and used that to press the cabbage down with ensuring that all the veg is securely submerged in the saltwater before closing the bottle.
From here on out it is pretty much a waiting game. You will need to open the bottle daily to let any released gasses from the fermentation process out. then place it back on the shelf. and within a week or two, I will have some lovely fermented cabbage to add to my condiment list... Cant wait!
(I will go a bit deeper into fermentation in upcoming posts)
Please Note that this post has been posted on various platforms