Recipe: Mango Chutney

I had a glut of mangoes given to me from the trees of various friends. They were all green so I wrapped them in newspaper to ripen them... and then forgot about them! What's a girl to do when all those delicious mangoes are too ripe to cook with but too good to let go to waste? Why, make mango chutney of course! I know, most people say chutney should be done with green mangoes, but ripe ones just make it sweeter, and it's absolutely delicious!

Without further ado, here is how I did it. You can easily add more mango to the mix - I have successfully made this with six before, and it turned out beautifully.

Ingredients

• 4 mangoes
• 1 onion (brown)
• 2 red chillies (long ones)
• 250 g dried fruit (I use sultana, raisins, pear, dates, prunes...whatever I had in the pantry, minus citrus)
• 2 1/2 cup vinegar (I did half rice wine, half white but any will do)
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 2 tablespoons fresh grated ginger
• 1 3/4 cup raw sugar (or whatever sugar you have)
• 1 - 2 teaspoons of the following: (all powdered) cinnamon, nutmeg, coriander, paprika, ginger, mustard seed (that one is not powdered)
• 5 cardamom pods (not powdered either)
• 3 cloves garlic

Method

Dice mango and soak for at least three hours (you can soak overnight for more intense flavours) with chilli, onion, dried fruit, vinegar, salt and fresh ginger.

Soaking stage

Add sugar and heat to dissolve.

Add remaining ingredients (spices and garlic). Bring to boil and then simmer till reduced to desired thickness.

Cooking away

Heat jars in the oven to sterilise then cool to touch and fill. Chutneys, jam and the like are a great way to use all those old jars that accumulate in my cupboards! I eat the ones with the not-so-great seals first obviously but others that seal properly can be stored for months.

A small sample of what was made - there was heaps

Do you do any preserving? If so, what's your specialty?