A glut of mini apricots here in the garden so I’ve been stewing and jamming some of the nine kilo picked by us over the past few days. Apricot chutney sounded too delectable to miss!
I found several online recipes, but added and subtracted and adapted the various ingredient suggestions. In the end, it’s an appleaday recipe through and through.
Fresh limes at the green grocer’s simply had to be added – an Asian recipe without them is lacking! Plus garam masala (thank you Rebelkitchen, I am now an even bigger fan of that delicious spice after the mushroom korma I adapted ‘n posted here back in December ’18).
Regarding chopping instructions, I’ll leave that up to you. As I don’t have a blender here I finely chopped the apples, onions & ginger by hand. If you have a blender, chop the lot roughly, then blend so it’s fine, but not a mush.
The result is simply divine, and can be an added side dish to allsorts, not just curries.
Ingredients:
1.5 kg apricots, stoned and quartered
2 red onions, finely chopped (see the note above re chopping)
3 small braeburn apples, or similar, finely chopped
6 cm ginger, finely chopped
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp black or mixed pepper
1 heaped tsp garam masala
1 heaped tsp Chinese five spice (=cinnamon, fennel, clove, star anise and peppercorns!)
350 ml apple cider vinegar
juice of 2 limes
2 – 3 finely chopped chilli (or 4 if you like your chutney to bite back)
250g sugar
2 tbsp local honey
Method:
Stone and quarter the apricots and put aside. Chop the onions, ginger, apples and chillies – seeds and all – and put into a large pot.
Add to this mix the garam masala & Chinese five spice, as well as salt, pepper, lime juice and vinegar; bring to the boil. Turn down and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring once in a while (trying not to cry from the onions and vinegar, lol).
Stir in the quartered apricots and return to the boil, then simmer until the apricots are softened.
Add the sugar and honey, then boil again for about 20 minutes until the delicious brew thickens, stirring occasionally to stop it catching.
Let it cool slightly whilst you sterilize your jars in a hot oven. Once cooled, pour and seal. Display for one and all to delight in, then store up to a year in a cool dry place.