Mumsey’s Autumn Chutney

I went to make some green tomato chutney, but when I had gathered the tomatoes from the end of the season there wasn’t really enough. So I read a few other recipes and gathered a few other end of season crops from the garden and produced the following recipe.
With all chutneys, pickles and relishes it is best to wait at least a month for the flavours to mature before using them.
This recipe left a slightly warm feeling but was very nice even if I do say so myself.
I tried it first on crackers.
If you don’t have these ingredients available you could substitute with something similar keeping quantities/weights the same.

300gr Cucumber (deseeded)
150gr Green tomatoes
150gr Green pepper
200gr Red onion
200gr Apples
1 clove garlic
1 tsp chopped red chilli (deseeded and deveined)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp whole all spice
Good pinch mustard seed
Good pinch celery seed
150mls cider vinegar
200gr sugar

Chop up the first five ingredients to 1 cm size pieces (approximately).
Finely chop the garlic and chilli and put all these ingredients into a large pot with the salt.
Tie the spice and seeds in muslin (cheesecloth) or the toe part of pantyhose.
I tie the piece of string to the handle of the pot and allow it to dangle into the mixture.
Add half the vinegar and bring to the boil.

Reduce the heat and simmer for 1 hour or until the chutney is reduced and thick, stirring frequently.
Put the sugar and the remaining vinegar in a pan and heat gently until the sugar is dissolved then add to the chutney.
Simmer for another 1 ½ hours until the chutney is thick, stirring it occasionally.

Remove the muslin bag (with the spices and seeds in) from the chutney, then spoon the hot chutney into warmed sterilized jars. (I put these through the dish washer and place them in the oven at about 140°C.)
Cover and seal immediately.
Make sure you push the chutney down a bit to remove air bubbles.
Wipe the rims of the jars immediately.

This quantity made two 375g jars fill.