Instructions

1. Peel the tomatoes. Tomatoes are much easier to peel if you blanch them in boiling water until the skin splits, and plunge them in ice water to cool. Remove the seeds and dice the tomatoes into roughly 1-inch cubes or wedges. It takes roughly 2 pounds of tomatoes to yield 3 cups of chutney, but this greatly depends on how many other ingredients you add.

2. Wash additional fruits and vegetables for the chutney and cut them to the same size as the tomato pieces. Apples, pears, mangoes, peppers, onions, squash and garlic are common ingredients in chutney.

3. Saute the fruits and vegetables in cooking oil for a few minutes until they begin to soften.

4. Season the ingredients to taste with your choice of spices, such as salt, pepper, ginger, cumin, sugar, lemon juice and vinegar. Vinegar is especially important if you plan to can the finished chutney. You need about 3/4 cup of white or apple cider vinegar per quart of fruits and vegetables in the chutney to raise the acidity for safe preservation.

5. Bring the ingredients to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat and simmer, covered, for 20 minutes to 1 hour. The fruits and vegetables should be soft, and the liquid reduced by about half.

6. Serve the chutney immediately or transfer the hot chutney to hot canning jars. Cover the jars with lids and screw-on bands. Boil in a hot-water canning bath for about 15 minutes or until the seal sucks down to form an airtight seal.