With a reasonable climate throughout the summer and more than a fine crop of tomatoes in the greenhouse; Black Opal, Marzano, Marmande, Ailsa Craig, Red Zebra and Alicante, I was reaching out for additional recipes.
Sometimes you spot one and you know it is faultless You’ve never cooked it, certainly never tasted it, but as the ingredients announce their credentials; you sense the potential assembly and anticipate the taste. Maybe the author’s declaration helped;
“Remember that this is a chutney – it should be forceful, declamatory. You want a chutney to light up your mouth, to have some punch. Sweet! Sour! Salty! Hot! The biggest mistake with chutney is to think of it as a spiced jam. Never leave out the salt or under-salt in the name of some diet deity”.
With its spice passport intact from the early Persian empire, it is reminiscent of a savoury tomato marmalade, sweet, sour and hot. A simply prepared, go-to chutney that will complement almost any dish it meets.
Parsi Tomato Chutney (Tamota ni Chatni) from My Bombay Kitchen (2007) Niloufer Ichaporia King
1.350 kg ripe tomatoes, chopped
100g finely sliced ginger
50g sliced garlic
350 ml cider vinegar
200g golden sultanas
200g soft brown sugar
200g granulated sugar
6 dried hot red chillis
½ tsp cayenne
4 cloves
12 black peppercorns
1 stick cinnamon
1 tsp nigella seeds
1 tsp black mustard seeds
1 tsp salt
Coarsely chop the tomatoes
Put them in a non-reactive pan with the garlic, ginger, vinegar, sultanas, sugar, cayenne, cinnamon, chillis, cloves and salt
Bring to the boil, stirring so that everything gets well combined
Lower the heat, uncovered, stirring every now and again until the chutney reaches the consistency of soft jam, this may take up to 4 hours
Adjust the balance of sugar, salt and vinegar while the chutney is still warm and add more cayenne if you want the chutney hotter
Let the chutney sit for day before you bottle it to allow the flavours to settle
I just put the jars and tops through the dishwasher and give them an extra jolt of boiling water before filling them
Niloufer adds “I’ve been making this chutney for 40 years. It’s an easy recipe that lends itself to other fruit, like plums or peaches”.
I tried it with an overabundance of plums, and it was delicious.