MATTYB'S CHRISTMAS CHILI+TOMATO CHUTNEY

My Xmas preparations continue with the batch of my lully chili and tomato chutney. I have made this chutney for the last couple of years now and last year I think I got the recipe spot on. I sat late in the evening and was in heaven spooning it onto ham and cheese and just devouring the lot. It truly is heavenly. What's great is that you can create a large batch in October, leave for the flavors to really meld together and then decant into smaller jars to hand out to your friends and family as gifts in December. It's the chutney that keeps on giving.

First of all - my recipe below make a lot of chutney, around two litres worth so please make sure you have a very large pan that will be able to hold everything, that you have enough empty sterilised jars to pour the chutney into and then plenty of space in a cool dark place to store the chutney in for at least one month until it's ready to eat. Make sure you can do all these things before you start the recipe otherwise you'll come a cropper. This is a lot of chutney as I do give it out to people as gifts but if you want to make less as you don't have the capacity to make a massive batch then you can always scale down the ingredients below to a more manageable amount.

So lets begin with the tomatoes. First of all, buy them from your local market if you can. Not only will this save you a lot of money compared to the prices you would pay at a supermarket but you'll find that sometimes they are a better quality of tomato too (this rule applies to all the veg in this chutney I might add!), You can use any tomatoes you like too - plum, cherry, salad, green, yellow whatever you can get your hands on. All the different varieties will add different flavours, colours and textures to your chutney.

I prefer to use red and yellow peppers in the chutney too as the sweetness really works well with the rest of the flavors and they also look pretty too! By all means use just one colour or add green ones if you like. There are so many varieties around now you can be really creative and add an array of different peppery goodness to your chutney. 

Red onions - that's just my preference due to sweetness and colour. Normal white onions will do the job too you'll just lose those little burst of purpliness in your chutney. Whatever you use make sure you chop them as finely as possible so that they break down enough to form the body of the chutney. Blitzing them through a food processor works best.

Many of my recipes use chili. Love a chili me. I chuck in everything, seeds and all to really give it a kick. De seed your chili's if you like a little bit of spice otherwise leave them out along with the cayenne pepper if you really don't like spicy food, there is still enough going on to make the chutney delicious. 

Liquid smoke is my friend too. It really gives things like spag bol, chili and this chutney a great smoky BBQ flavor. It's worth hunting some out on line if you want to treat yourself to a taste sensation . If you can't get hold of any then try and use some smoked paprika to pump in that smokiness to your chutney.

That's the ingredients sorted, now make sure you have the right equipment too. By this I mean make sure you have a big  pan that can hold all the ingredients and can be covered with a lid otherwise your chutney is just going to boil over and that would be a right palaver. Make sure you have some big sterilised jars to store it all too and plenty of space to let it brew. 

Right then, I think we're all set! Take a Sunday after to follow my recipe and make yourself some Christmas magic.

Chili And Tomato Chutney

900g Tomatoes

2 Red Peppers
2 Yellow Peppers
1 Large Aubergine
700g Red Onion
4 Grated Garlic Cloves

4 Finely Chopped Red Chili
350g Granulated Sugar
300ml White Wine Vinegar
1 Tbsp Salt
1Tbsp Coriander Seeds
1 Tbsp Paprika
2 Tsp Cayenne Pepper

2 Tbsp Liquid Smoke (optional)

1. Boil a kettle full of water and prick all the Tomato's with a fork. Place them in a large bowl and pour over the boiling water and leave for two-three minutes before transferring to a second large bowl filled with cold water and leave for another two-three minutes.
2. The skins should now fall off the tomatoes, you don't want to put them in skinned or you'll have bits of skin all in your chutney and it's not nice at all. Once all peeled, chop into quarters and place into your large boiling pan.
3. De seed and finely chop the peppers and cube the aubergine into similar sized pieces and throw them in with the tomatoes.
4. Whizz all the onions through a food processor to chop them really finely and chuck them in with the tomatoes along with the chili and garlic.
5. Now turn the heat on the hob to medium and start mixing everything together with a wooden spoon. Make sure you get right to the bottom so nothing catches on the pan. Keep stirring and use the spoon to break down the tomato's so atomoatoy stock starts to fill up the pan. This takes time so be patient. 
6. Once the tomatoes have broken down the stock will be nearly covering all the ingredients. At this point leave the mix and bring it too boil before reducing to a simmer for 1 hour. Cover the pan with a lid and stir in 15 minute interval just to stop ingredients sticking to the pan again.
7. After the hour of boiling the mixture should of reduced enough for you to add in the sugar, vinegar, salt, coriander seeds, paprika, cayenne pepper and liquid smoke and bring up the heat up again. Keep stirring everything until the sugar has dissolved and the pot is boiling again.
8. Cover and boil for at least 30 minutes. If everything is boiling too much and spraying everywhere reduce the heat to calm it down. Again, stir the mix every ten minutes to make sure nothing catches. If there is still excess water after 30 minutes, boil for a further ten minutes and repeat. When the mix reaches a chutney like consistency remove from the heat.

Decant the chutney into your sterilised jars and close the lid tight whist the mixture is still warm and then place in a cool, dark place for a least a month. After that agonising month long wait you can crack open your chutney and taste and trust me it will blow your mind. Beautifully smokey and sweet sweet tomato chutney - it's the ideal accompaniment to your Christmas cheese board or spread on your turkey butties on boxing day.

Another Christmas gift from me to you! Ho Ho Ho!