Called Blatjan in my corner of the world, Chutney is a national condiment that every respectable South African has in their cupboards - unless of course you're me!! A sugary canned food? I don't think so - until a friend offered me this recipe. I couldn't believe chutney could be successfully made without the dreaded sugar. Rather skeptically, but edged on by the hopeful face of Blatjan loving FarmerBuckaroo, I tried the recipe. I am so impressed I am now joining the respectable Blatjan Band.
We were recently blessed with a batch of wonderful organic apricots. We picked a couple crates full. What survived immediate devouring, I froze and dehydrated. The frozen goes into smoothies or will be part of my new Wine making adventures. The dehydrated fruits make a wonderful snack. Or Jam! Sugar free and intensely delicious. They also make for an intensely flavourful and sugarless Chutney!
Now to end the suspense. What alternative do you use to replace sugar? The nutrient dense ingredient; Dates!!! The recipe calls for equal amounts of dried apricots and peaches. I decided to go halvies.
Dehydrated apricots and fresh peaches. If you use only dried fruit you'll need to increase the amount of water in the cooking. The dried fruit need to be soaked overnight in the ACV (apple cider vinegar) and a little water.
For the remaining ingredients we were blessed to have most of the veggies from the garden. If you like a more spicy Chutney then increase the amount of Chillies - or add the seeds.
CHUTNEY:
500g fresh peaches
500g dried apricots
2 apples chopped with the skins on (as the pectin will thicken of the chutney)
200g depitted Medjool Dates
200g Raisins
2 medium Onion
2 clove garlic or equivalent in freshly ground garlic
250ml Apple Cider Vinegar
250 - 500ml water
1 tsp Cinnamon
1 tsp Coriander seeds
2 tsp Himalayan Salt
1 - 2 inch fresh Ginger
2 fresh Chillies (or 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper)
Soak the dried apricots and dates overnight in the ACV and a little water.
The following day pop the soaked fruit mix into your food processor and blend to your desired consistency. Remove and slowly blend all the chopped onions, apple, chillies, ginger and raisins.
Once processed to your desired consistency empty everything into a heavy pot. Add the water - which you may need to top up as the Chutney cooks. With the pot uncovered slowly cook your Chutney making sure to stir regularly.
It took almost two hours on a low simmer. And I had to add quite a lot of water to reach the right consistency. In that time prepare your jars, ensure they are properly sterilized. Once you are happy with the Chutney allow it too cool enough to bottle. Then seal well and store. Or gobble up with a delicious curry!
Imagine my surprise discovering that one of our national foods is actually not indigenous to South Africa! Originally Chutney was made in India and was a fresh or pickled preparation. The name is derived from the Hindi chāṭnā meaning "to lick" or "to eat with appetite". I made one of our favourite dishes; lentil brejani. It was delicious with all the usual condiments .... and Chutney! Finger licking good!
