I know it might be a bit late in the season for some of you, but I wanted to quickly share this recipe I’ve been making for years in the hopes that it might help out a few of you dealing with a glut of green tomatoes at the tail end of the growing season… and for those of you who either don’t have tomatoes growing at home, or for those of you who are way more ruthless than I (or those who live further south) and pulled out your tomatoes weeks or even months ago… you might want to bookmark this recipe for next year!
When you have a home garden, making sure you have tons of recipes that utilise green (unripe) tomatoes (and also zucchini (courgette) recipes, let’s be honest!) is super important if you don’t want food to go to waste.
It almost feels criminal to pull out plants still laden with fruit and I’ll admit, I usually wait until the very last second, when my winter seedling are leggy and threatening violence if room is not made for them, NOW. It’s just that ripe tomatoes fresh from the garden is to me one of life’s greatest pleasures and if I can will another handful of ripe tomatoes out of my plants, I do.
I’ve been making this chutney for years and while I’m not 100% sure, I think the original version came from an old NZ Gardener Magazine, though a few ingredients have changed around with time, as they do… The ginger here is not super strong, I suggest if you really love a good ginger hit in your chutney, you add a few tablespoons of finely chopped crystallised ginger as well. That’s what my Nana would’ve done.
I’d love to hear your suggestions of what to do with green tomatoes, I bet you’ve all got tons of great ideas!
Green tomato + ginger chutney
I would usually recommend using a dark sugar such as muscovado here, but I was out so instead used a mixture of unrefined raw sugar/coconut sugar as that’s what I had on hand. I know it seems like a lot of sugar (way more than I’d usually have in a recipe!), but this makes a lot of chutney, and as it’s a condiment you only use a spoonful or two of the finished product. By all means use less sugar, but just know it won’t turn out the same as mine…
Makes 6-8 medium jars
2 kg green tomatoes, finely chopped
500 g apples, peeled, cored and finely chopped
500 g onion, peeled and finely chopped
250 g raisins or sultanas
4 teaspoons fine sea salt
500 g sugar (I used a mixture of unrefined raw sugar + coconut sugar)
2 cups (500 ml) apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons finely grated ginger
1 tablespoon cumin seeds
a good big pinch dried chilli flakes, optional
Combine all the ingredients in a large saucepan, and bring to the boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Reduce heat to a gentle simmer and cook until nice and thick -around 1 hour-ish-. Pour into hot sterilised jars and seal. This chutney will store in a cool, dark place for up to 12 months. Once opened, store in the fridge and use within a month or two.
* To sterilise jars, clean them in hot soapy water, rinse and place into 120 C/248 F oven for 30 minutes. Stand lids in boiling water for 5 minutes to sterilise.
3 Responses
Ooh! CHUTNEY looks very Delicious.Can’t wait to make.Thanks for sharing.
You’re welcome! Enjoy x
I admit that we not often use green tomato to cook. So i am excited when read this recipe. I usually fried green tomato and really delicous!!!