Mango chutney

With boxes of six lovely ripe mangoes selling for £5 on Deptford High Street today, I decided to have a go at making my own mango chutney, something I've been meaning to do for ages. I was also prompted by the fact that the plum & chilli jam is running low, so I'm in need of something a bit spicey and sweet for that curry/sausage sandwich/pork pie type of moment.

I started with this recipe from the BBC Good Food website, and used it more or less intact except that I only had one apple rather than two. Cooking apples are elusive on Sundays - only the English greengrocer and the market stalls seem to sell them, the Asian greengrocers with the cheap mangoes don't have them.

Ingredients
4 or 5 large ripe mangoes about 1kg
2 tbsp sunflower oil
2 onions, halved and thinly sliced
thumb-sized piece fresh root ginger peeled and cut into thin shreds
10 green cardamom pods
1 cinnamon stick
½ tsp cumin seeds
½ tsp coriander seeds, lightly crushed
¼ tsp black onion seeds (Nigella or Kalonji)
½ tsp ground turmeric
2 Bramley apples, about 500g, peeled, cored and chopped
1 large red chilli, deseeded and finely sliced
375ml white wine vinegar
400g golden caster sugar
1 tsp salt

Fry onions gently in oil for a few mins, then add the ginger and cook for another 8-10 mins.

Add all the spices except the turmeric, fry for a few minutes. Add the turmeric, apple, 500ml water, cover and cook for 10 mins before adding the mango and cooking for a further 20 mins. 

Add vinegar, sugar, salt and cook uncovered for another half an hour or more, until the mixture thickens. Pour into sterilised jars, store for 8 weeks to let it mature.

On reflection, it might have been better if the mangoes had not been quite so ripe, they were very juicy and the mixture consequently was pretty wet. I'm not sure how well or if at all it will set, I perhaps should have added less water and/or vinegar. Tastes good at this stage though, can't wait to try it!