When we returned from the States, our triffid like tomato plants were laden with fruit. A lot of them were ripe so I soon converted them into tomato sauce, but a good quantity were green and unlikely to redden. It was clearly time to initiate Operation Green Tomato Chutney. I used an amalgam of an ancient recipe that my Mum used (as dad always had lots of unripe produce) with one of Nigel Slater's and I think the results were excellent, particularly as the white wine vinegar is a less dominant flavour than the malt vinegar mum used to use.
Ingredients
1kg green tomatoes
350g onions
100g raisins or sultanas
250g light brown sugar
1 medium sized, hot red chilli
1 tsp salt
2 tsp yellow mustard seeds
300ml white wine vinegar
Method
Halve the tomatoes. Put them with the peeled and roughly chopped onions into a large stainless- steel or enamelled pan with the raisins, sugar, chilli, salt, mustard seeds and vinegar. Bring to the boil, turn down the heat and leave to simmer for about 2 hours giving the occasional stir to reduce the risk of the chutney sticking. When the chutney has thickened and the fruit is soft, spoon into sterilized jars and seal.
