What to do with Green Tomatoes?

Hi Everyone,
Last week my mum and I made some yummy Green Tomato Chutney so I thought I would share the recipe with you and some tips on how to make it :) Hope you enjoy...

Green Tomato Chutney

Ingredients:
2.5kg green tomatoes, roughly chopped
0.5kg onions, finely sliced
4 tsp / 30g salt
1L malt vinegar
0.5kg soft light brown sugar
250g sultanas, roughly chopped
3 tsp / 20g ground pepper

Equipment:
A large bowl and a large pot
7 - 10 jars with lids
Food wrap / cling film
Sticky labels

Directions:
Step 1: Prepare

Finely slice your onions and wash and chop the green tomatoes, cutting out any bad bits. Add to a large bowl and stir. Add the 4 teaspoons of salt, stir again and then cover with a plate or cling wrap and leave overnight.

This will draw out lots of the tomatoes juices and help enhance the flavours. This step can be skipped if you don't want to leave it overnight, just reduce the salt by half.

I thoroughly recommend doing this step though as it will reduce the time you need to cook your chutney for. Much of the cooking time is just reducing the liquid down so it's a thick enough consistency for chutney.

The next day...

Step 2: Heat the vinegar, add the sugar.

 

Place the litre of vinegar into a large pan. Add the 500g of light brown soft sugar and stir over a medium heat until all the sugar has dissolved.

Bring to the boil.

Step 3: Sultanas.

Roughly chop the sultanas then add to the simmering vinegar and sugar. Bring the whole lot to a gentle boil.

Step 4: Drain and add the tomatoes and onions.

 

 

Remove the cover from the tomatoes and onions that you've left overnight. Drain well but do not rinse. Rinsing will add more water and the goal of leaving overnight with salt was to remove as much water as possible without pulping them.

Add to the chutney and stir in well. Add the 3 teaspoons / 15g white pepper and bring to a gentle boil.

Step 5: Cooking time

Once all the ingredients have been added they need to be boiled gently for 1.5 to 2 hours until thick and golden. The goal of this cooking time is to reduce the liquid down so the chutney's thick and to soften the tomatoes and onions until they take on the sugar and turn brown.

All you're doing for the next 1 - 2 hours is stirring occasionally and adjusting the heat if they start to boil too vigorously.

You might as well get your jars ready now!

Step 6: Preparing your jars

Wash your jars and lids well in hot water. I bought some jars from 'Cheap as Chips' which is just a discount variety store and they have really cute red checked lids!

Place them in an oven preheated to 140 degrees Celcius (280 Fahrenheit). This will dry and sterilise them.

Step 7: Is it ready yet???

When your chutney has reduced by almost half and is thick and golden brown, it is almost ready. Boil it a little longer, I'm almost certain you'll be as impatient as I am and need to leave it just a tiny bit longer. I found a good gauge of it being thick enough was when I could drag my wooden spoon across the bottom of the pan and see the bottom for a little while after it had passed. When that happens, it's ready.

Remove your sterilised jars from the oven and place on newspaper or a chopping board, be careful because they will be hot!! This is the messy part of the process and the newspaper makes it easier to clean up afterwards.

Holding the hot jars in an oven mitt in one hand, spoon the chutney into the jars with the other. When full give them a quick tap on the bottom against the work surface to knock out any air bubbles then fill the next jar.

When all your jars are full place a double layer of cling film or food wrap across the top of each jar and then trim around it. As the chutney cools the air below the wrap will contract, sucking the cling film down against the surface, protecting it further from mould.

Step 8: Labelling and topping off.

While the jars cool, I wrote the date, and name of it on the lids.
When they are cooled then you can add the lids. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You can start eating the chutney right away, or leave it to mature for one or two weeks. I couldn't wait so had some warm with cheese and biscuits :)

The finished chutney, if preserved well, should keep for six months or more. 

I hope you give it a try because it was fun and easy and so tasty!! 

Have you ever made a pickle or chutney? How did it go?

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