Aromatic Spiced Mango and Apple Chutney

Well, if you're going to the trouble of making yourself a good curry...

...you should certainly have a go at making this delicious mango chutney to eat before (with poppadoms etc.) or with your dinner (especially if it's a curry!).

If you're counting, it's approximately 17 calories per level tablespoon - great with curries and poppadoms etc., and also left-over roasts such as turkey, pork, chicken and ham, and strong cheeses! Also great to give away as a Christmas gift!

Now, although you possibly won't have time to make this if you're having a curry tonight (bar domestic Godesses obviously), it's definitely worth having a go - it's so much tastier than some of the insipid jam-like offerings you buy in jars! Curry lovers will love you, if you give them a jar - the friends and family I've given jars too have loved it!

This chutney has a wonderful flavour from the roasted cumin seeds and black onion seeds. It’s made using cooking apples (Bramley) as well as mangoes, which gives it a nice pulpy texture with the apples breaking down leaving chunks of mango – you’d be unlikely to realise it had apple in it if you didn’t already know! The use of cooking apples also makes it more economical.

Inspired by a Sara Buenfel recipe. This will make around 2 litres of chutney, so get sterilising those jars! Should keep for at least 3 months if stored in a cool dry place in sterile jars (I have kept for over a year!), refrigerate once opened.

Ingredients

• 3-4 large just-ripe (but not over-ripe) mangoes, about 1-1.2kg
• 1 tbsp sunflower oil
• 2 onions, halved, cut through almost to the root into quarters and thinly sliced
• 3-4 inch piece fresh root ginger, peeled and cut into thin shreds
• 10 green cardamom pods
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 tbsp cumin seeds, toasted until fragrant in a dry pan
• 1 tsp coriander seed, lightly crushed
• 1 tbsp black onion seeds (Nigella / Kalonji)
• 1 tsp ground turmeric
• 3 Bramley apples, about 750g peeled, cored and chopped (do this last)
• 2 large red chillies, deseeded and finely chopped
• 300ml white wine vinegar
• 350g golden caster sugar
• 1 tsp salt

[Acidulated water (water with a squeeze of lemon in it) for the apple chunks, if they’re going to sit around before you cook them to stop them going brown. Drain thoroughly before adding to the pan.]

Method

1. Cut the mango into small-ish attractively shaped chunks (i,e, 1cm to 1.5cm cubes depending on how chunky you want it) – you can do this by cutting down through the mango on each side of the stone, then cutting a diamond pattern in the flesh, and either scooping out in two layers, or pushing the skin up, so it resembles a mango ‘hedgehog’, and slicing them off. Alternatively scoop out the whole cheek with a large spoon, cut into two thick slices, then dice. Cut the rest of the flesh from around the flat stone, removing the skin, and cut up.

2. Heat the oil in a large, preferably non-stick pan, and gently fry the onion for a couple of minutes, until it begins to soften, but not colour. Add the ginger and cook for a further 5 minutes until the onion is completely softened. 

3. Add all the spices except the turmeric, cook for a further two minutes then add the diced apples and turmeric along with 300ml of water. Cover and cook for 15 minutes. 

4. Add the chillies and mango chunks, re-cover and cook for a further 15 minutes (if your mangoes are ripe you can skip this  15 minutes cooking step and move straight onto the next step).

5. Add the rest of the ingredients (vinegar, sugar and salt) and simmer uncovered for 30-45 minutes, stirring occasionally (make sure it doesn’t burn on the bottom – if it does, don’t panic, just pour into another pan without scraping any up off the bottom) until it is pulpy, but still with recognisable chunks of mango in it. Depending on what kind of pan you use, and the heat output of your stove it may need longer to cook down.

Enjoy with poppadoms, or curries, or great with cold leftover meats such as turkey, chicken, pork or ham or strong cheeses!

Notes:

To sterilise jars, I put clean, washed jars in the centre of my oven on a clean tray,  preheated to Gas mark 1 / 140C / 120C Fan Oven for at least 10 minutes, and boil the lids for at least 2 minutes. I spoon the hot chutney into the hot jars as soon as it's finished cooking, and use silicone tongs to retrieve the lids and put straight on top - mind your fingers tightening the lids! It's best to use a sterilised jam funnel to avoid getting any chutney on the rim of the jar so you get a good seal.