Move over, Mrs. Balls
Ingredients:
- 250g dried apricots
- 1 1/2 cups hot water
- 2 medium red onions
- 100g sultanas
- 250g sugar
- 1 cup white wine vinegar (sherry is a nice substitute here, too)
- 3 red chillies (dried is fine too)
- a few cracks of fresh black pepper
- 2 tsp salt
Method:
- Soak the dried apricots in the hot water for 1 hour. They should become plump and supple to the touch.
- Bring a pot over low heat.
- In the meantime, finely chop the red chillies and slice the onions into thin rounds.
- Once the pot reaches temperature, add (olive) oil and then add the onions to soften and lightly caramelise over the course of an hour.
- Once the apricots have rehydrated, drain them and place onto a chopping board. Keep the water aside for now – we’ll use it again later on.
- Chop the apricots into rough chunks.
- Place all the ingredients (apricot water, apricots, sultanas, sugar, vinegar, chillies) back into a pot and increase to medium heat until it reaches a boil. Don’t cover.
- Lower the heat to a simmer and let cook for around 1 hour, while stirring intermittently. The mixture should reduce into an almost jam-like consistency, but still retain some liquid.
- Once the hour is up, let the chutney cool for around 15 minutes. During this time, it should thicken considerably.
- Now, transfer the chutney over into sterilised glass jars and store them in a cool, dark place. If it’s summer, the fridge will do fine. These are ready to eat immediately, but if you like your chutneys with a little more depth, leave to ferment for 2 weeks.
Tip: You can make seasonal chutney from different fruits. In August, we make mirabelle plum chutney.
