Griddled Chicken with Apricot Chutney

Griddled Chicken with Apricot Chutney

Ingredients:

4 skinless chicken breasts

250g dried apricots, chopped

5ml sugar

5ml dried chilli flakes

15ml black mustard seeds

10ml white wine vinegar

Oil for brushing

Potato wedges to serve

Lemon wedges to serve

Method:

Put the apricots in a pan with the sugar, chilli flakes, mustard seeds and white wine vinegar. Cook over a low heat for 10-12 minutes, or until the apricots are soft. Set aside.

Heat a griddle pan until hot, brush with oil and cook the chicken over a medium heat for about 5 minutes on each side, or until cooked and the juices run clear.

Serve with the apricot chutney, potato wedges and lemon wedges.

Mango Chutney

Mango chutney is a perfect accompaniment to any Indian or South East Asian meal. The best mangoes to use for this chutney are those which are not quite ripe, but not too green. If the mangoes are too ripe they will break up too much during the cooking of the chutney and give a mushy result, which you don't want. The chutney should be chunky, thick and juicy.

Ingredients:
1.5Kg mangoes, peeled, stoned and chopped into 1cm cubes.
75g cooking salt
2 litres water
450g sugar
600ml white wine vinegar
2 inch root ginger, peeled and finely chopped
6 garlic cloves, crushed
10ml hot chilli powder
1 cinnamon stick
125g pitted dates
125g raisins

Method:
Put the mangoes in a bowl with the salt and 2 litres of water. Cover with cling film and set aside for 24 hours.

Put the sugar and vinegar into a saucepan and bring to the boil, stirring until the sugar has dissolved. Stir in the mangoes, then add all the remaining ingredients. Bring to the boil, stirring occasionally. Reduce the heat to low and simmer, stirring occasionally, for about an hour and a half, or until the chutney is reduced and thickened.

Remove the cinnamon stick from the mixture and ladle the chutney into warmed, sterilised jars. Seal the jars, label and store in a cool place until ready to use. Makes about 2 x 500g jars and can be stored for up to 6 months.

Brinjal or Aubergine Chutney with Tamarind

With the sweetness of brinjal and the tang of tamarind, this chutney makes a great accompaniment to almost any curry. Give it a whirl with your next Indian meal.

Ingredients:
1 large brinjal (aubergine), peeled and cubed
15ml mustard oil
15ml vegetable oil
15ml salt
1 medium onion, chopped
30ml tamarind paste
30ml granulated brown sugar
2 dried red chillies
2 long thin green chillies, chopped
a small handful of fresh coriander leaves chopped

Method:

Put the chopped brinjal in a bowl and toss with the mustard oil and vegetable oil. Sprinkle with salt. Cook the brinjal in a large frying pan over medium to high heat until the brinjal is soft. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool.

Add the onion, tamarind paste, sugar, dried red chillies and brinjal to a food processor and blend to a chunky paste. Add the chopped green chillies and coriander and stir into the mixture. serve as an accompaniment to an Indian meal.

Cucumber Sambal

Sambals, or Kachoomers as they are also known, are like little salads that are served with curries and rice dishes. They are quick and easy to make and are normally served in little dishes for diners to help themselves as they require. They may be made from cucumber, onion, radish, carrot, lettuce or tomato, but cucumber and onion is a particular favourite in our family.

Ingredients:
2 inch piece of cucumber
half an onion
30ml malt vinegar
30ml basic dhunia chutney

Method:
Dice the cucumber into 1/2 cm cubes and set aside in a small mixing bowl.
Finely chop the onion and add to the cucumber.
Add the vinegar to the onion and cucumber.
Mix in the basic dhunia chutney.

Basic Dhunia Chutney
2 whole peppercorns
1 bunch of coriander leaves (dhunia)
2 long thin green chillies
2 cloves of garlic
2ml cumin seeds
2ml salt
Juice of 1 lemon

Put all the ingredients in a mini blender and blend to a smooth paste. Make up as required or store in quantity in an airtight container in the fridge until required. Keeps for a week or more in the fridge. For a variation, mint can also be added to this chutney.

Rhubarb and Apple Chutney

Rhubarb teams with apples, onions and spices

to become a tangy chutney that is wonderful

with roast pork, game and venison sausages.

It’s not the prettiest chutney,

because the long cooking turns the rhubarb brown,

but it tastes really good!

.

Ingredients:
750g rhubarb stalks
500g cooking apples, peeled and cored
2 onions, finely sliced
250ml malt or white wine vinegar
250ml white wine
300g demerara sugar
1 small red chilli, finely chopped
30ml black mustard seeds
5ml ground allspice
5ml ground ginger
100g sultanas
15ml salt

Method:
Wash and trim the rhubarb, discarding any leaves, and chop into inch pieces. Chop the apples into 1/2 inch dice. Place the rhubarb, apples and onions in a heavy-based pan with the vinegar and wine, and bring to the boil. Simmer for 15 minutes until the onions are tender.

Add the sugar, chilli, mustard seeds, allspice, ginger, sultanas and salt, and continue to simmer, stirring from time to time, for 45 minutes to one hour, until it is good and thick.

Remove from the heat for ten minutes, then spoon the chutney into hot, dry, sterilised jars and seal. Keep in a cool, dry place for two weeks to a month before opening. The longer the chutney is kept, the better it becomes!

Apple and Cranberry Chutney

Cranberries always remind me of Christmas.

With them being available fresh and dried at this time of year,

I'm always looking for new ways to use them.

This festive chutney rather took my fance.

Ingredients:
750g Granny Smith apples, peeled and cored
250g dried or fresh cranberries
1 onion finely chopped
350ml apple cider vinegar or white wine vinegar
200g sugar
5ml ground ginger
5ml ground turmeric
5ml ground cumin
5ml ground coriander
10ml salt

Method:
Chop the apples up into slightly smaller than 1 cm cubes.
Place them into a saucepan with all the other ingredients.
Bring the mixture to the boil, stirring to ensure a good mix.
Reduce the heat and simmer for about 45 minutes,
or until the chutney has thickened and the fruit has become soft.
Store in sterilized jars, ready for serving with any festive meal.

Mom's Tomato Chutney

This recipe brings back fond memories of my mother.

When I was a young teenager my dad had a smallholding where he grew tomatoes, among other things. He'd bring them home and store them in the freezer for use in soups and stews, and of course, for my mom's tomato chutney. Keeping them in the freezer made it easy to remove the skins; you only had to scour them on four sides and drop them in boiling water for the skins to lift off like the petals of a flower opening. Give this a try.

Ingredients:
1 kg tomatoes, skins removed
250g muscovado sugar
1 cup malt vinegar
250g sultanas
15ml English mustard
15ml ground ginger
15ml sea salt
2 large white onions, finely sliced
2ml cayenne pepper

Method:
Slice the tomatoes and place them in a heavy based saucepan.
Mix all the rest of the ingredients into the tomatoes and bring to the boil. Lower the heat and simmer gently until the mixture is reduced and of a required consistency, stirring occasionally to prevent it sticking to the bottom of the pan.
Bottle in sterilised jars while still hot.

Cook's Tip

Do not allow any metal to come in contact with the chutney during cooking or while storing. If your pickle jars have metal tops, cover the contents with greaseproof paper or with wax.

Onions ~ Autumn Chutney

Onions are one of our oldest vegetables, most likely used primarily as a medicine. They are reputed to have been used in ancient Mesopotamia as a cure-all. Today, the production of onions is the second most important horticultural vegetable crop, only superseded by tomatoes. 

Onions contain a range of strong antioxidants; they are reputed to exert anti-inflammatory, antibiotic, antiviral, anti-allergy and anticancer activity.

In Chinese medicine, onions have been used to treat angina, bacterial infections, coughs and breathing problems.

This class of vegetables, belonging to the Allium or lily family, includes chives, garlic, leeks, onions, scallions and shallots. The varieties range through the spectrum from red to yellow to green and white. They can be eaten raw, cooked, fried, dried or roasted and range in flavour from strong to mildly sweet.

These vegetables have been found to contain a range of bioflavonoids or phytochemical micronutrients, characterised primarily by their rich content of odorous sulphur compounds including thiosulfinates, sulfides, and sulfoxides. The cysteine sulfoxides are what are responsible for making you cry when cutting onions. The thiosulfinates exhibit antimicrobial activity.

Another group of micronutrients, of which onions are a rich source, are fructo-oligosaccharides. These oligomers stimulate the growth of healthy bifidobacteria in the colon, suppressing the growth of potentially harmful bacteria, which leads to a reduction in the risk of tumors that may develop in that part of the intestine.

Yellow and red onions and shallots supply the richest known source of quercetin, one of the most potent of antioxidants known. Quercetin's initial activity as an antioxidant is to neutralise free radicals before they damage cells. This is potentially the process in its mechanism, which includes a range of activities.

Quercetin displays an antihistaminic action, improving lung function, decreasing bronchial spasm and reducing allergy symptoms, thus helping in the relief of respiratory conditions such as emphysema, bronchitis and asthma. It also shows anti-inflammatory properties which may help to reduce pain from disorders such as arthritis. Research shows that quercetin may help to prevent cancer, especially prostate and stomach cancer and may also help to reduce symptoms like fatigue, depression and anxiety. It enhances cardiovascular health, relieves varicose veins, improves fragile capillaries and alleviates bruising; it thins the blood, wards off blood clots and counters atherosclerosis. Quercetin is also highly effective in preventing the oxidation of LDL, or 'bad cholesterol', and may help to balance the LDL~HDL ratio in the blood by raising the production of HDL or 'good cholesterol'.

I would say this gives us a multitude of reasons to eat onions on a regular basis.

Tip for mosquito bites. Rub with a cut onion to reduce the sting.

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Autumn Chutney
Ingredients:
15ml olive oil
1 onion, roughly chopped
1 clove garlic, crushed
1/2 inch root ginger, peeled and grated
3 plums or apricots, stoned and roughly chopped
1 cooking apple, peeled, cored and chopped
150ml cranberry or red grape juice
50g Muscovado sugar

Method:
Heat the oil in a pan and add the onion garlic and ginger. Cook for a few minutes until softened and slightly coloured.
Add the fruit, fruit juices and sugar. Simmer for about 10 minutes until reduced and slightly sticky.
Serve with steak, lamb or pork chops.

Cook's Tip

Adding salt to frying onions brings the moisture out and helps to caramelise them quickly.

Green Tomato Chutney

This is great as an accompaniment to a braai or barbecue, or with curry, fish or chicken.

Ingredients:
175g light brown sugar
150ml white wine vinegar1 shallot, peeled, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, peeled, finely chopped
2cm piece fresh root ginger, peeled, finely grated
1 red chilli, finely chopped
125g sultanas
600g 5oz green tomatoes, quartered

Method:
Heat the sugar in a frying pan until the sugar melts and caramelises.
Add the white wine vinegar, shallots, garlic, ginger, chilli, sultanas and green tomatoes and bring the mixture to the boil.
Reduce the heat and simmer for 1 hour, or until the chutney has thickened.