Chutney

A few weeks ago, I tried making a chutney to go with a dinner.  The dinner was a flop because the chutney I made did not go with the main dish or with the lemon-dill raita I made the same day.  Also, the raita had not had enough time for the flavor to develop well.  However, the lemon-dill raita turned out great in the end, as mentioned in previous posts and the chutney is pretty good also if you find the right thing to serve it with, so the evening was not a total failure.

I looked up chutney recipes on the internet and read several.  It turns out chutneys are just cooked up goodies (usually a sweet and a bitter, I think, but maybe not always) and spices with brown sugar and vinegar.  It opens door to picking the goodies and the spices to match the meal.  Lots of room for creativity here.

The chutney I made was citrus-raisin.  I included lemon slices, thinly sliced orange peel, and thinly sliced grapefruit peel.  As far as I am concerned, the grapefruit does not contribute anything worthwhile.  And I picked the lemon slices out after it was done because they were difficult to eat.  The lemon and lemon juice contributed to the flavor, however.  So here is the recipe I made (minus the grapefruit rind):

Onion                    1 small (65 g)
Garlic                    2 cloves (10 g)
Ginger root            ~1 1/4 inch (33 g)
Orange rind           38 g
Juice from the orange
Lemon                   1   (109 g)
Raisins                   145 g
Vinegar                  1/2 cup, I used apple cider vinegar
Brown sugar           ~ 1/4 cup (37 g)
Vegetable oil          2 Tbl
Garham masala      1 1/2 tsp
Mustard, gnd          1/4 tsp
Nutmeg                   1/4 tsp
Hot pepper              pinch or to taste, I used African Bird Pepper (very hot)

Mince the onion, garlic and ginger root.  Slice the orange rind into very thin slices about 1 to 1 1/2 inch long.  Slice the lemon into very thin slices.

Heat the veg oil in a wok.  Add the onion and garlic.  When the onion is translucent, add the ginger root.  Adding small amounts of water as needed to keep the wok from drying out, add the lemon slices, orange rind, and raisins.  Stir continuously while cooking.  Add vinegar and brown sugar.  Add spices.  Continue to stir until the raisins are hot and the orange rind is soft and cooked thru.  As I said above, I wound up picking the lemon slices out after it was done.

Or something like that.

I thought this came out well.  The whole concept is very open to experimentation.  I hope to hear about what you try next time you need a chutney.  I see there are a lot of suggested recipes using cranberries...

Lindsey

PS Do not serve this chutney with fish; that was my flop.  Maybe pork chops...