Seasonal Fruit Chutney

Chutneys are tasty accompaniments to any meal usually with a sweet sour fruity hint, very popular in Indian cuisine, and packed with vitamin C. They add flavour, colour, and variety to any meal. You can easily make a jar or a few different jars from different fruits and keep them in your refrigerator for three or more weeks without needing preservatives and colourings.

Before you cook, buy the following ingredients from Asian grocers nearby. These ingredients are useful for other Asian recipes too.

Small tin of blended mustard oil, fennel seeds, packet of crushed red dried chilies, turmeric powder, chili powder, onion seeds, black mustard seeds, pomegranate powder, mango powder, sugar, fresh curry leaves.

Select a fruit of your choice or a mixture e.g 6-7 apples, pears, plums, peaches, nectarines, or a huge papaya or pineapple cut and cleaned or even melon.

1)Get wok on a medium fire, add to it a few curry leaves(optional), 4 tablespoons or small ladle of blended mustard oil. When warmed, add to oil, 1 tablespoon of onion seeds, 1 tablespoon of fennel seeds, 2 teaspoons of mustard seeds, and gently fry these till they start popping.

2)Now add your chopped up fresh fruits, and half a glass of water. To this mixture add 1 teaspoon of turmeric, 1 teaspoon cili powder, 1 teaspoon cili flakes, 1 teaspoon pomegranate powder, 1 teaspoon mango powder, some salt and stir gently. Next cover the kwok and let simmer for about 10-15 minutes checking frequently and adding more water and stirring to prevent burning.

3)When the fruit appears to be softening, use a potato masher or hand blender or just your ladle to press, crush and mix the kwok ingredients so they appear to form a nice chutney texture(thick and soft). Add to this bubbling simmering mixture, a few liberal tablespoons of white, brown or demerara sugar(or sweetener) to create a sweet sour hint. Stir gently(lowerng fire if necessary) for a few more minutes till you feel satisfied with the consistency and salt. You can squeeze in some lemon or lime juice too(or add more mango and pomegranate powders) and adjust sugar to create a nice sweet sour balance. At this stage your chutney will still be a little runny but will get thicker as it cools down.

4)Pour the fresh chutney into jars and label them. When cooled down, store in your refrigerator.

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