Hehe. Ok, so I made something akin to this chutney a year or two ago, when I was part of an local, organic produce co-op. I thought it would be nice to get some fresh, locally grown veggies (every week). I went to the pick-up which was hosted by a local mom and acquaintance and I'd get a hefty (dirty) bag of veggies with things like squash, potatoes, japanese eggplant, tomatoes and the like. There would be variation depending on the season and what was plentiful. Sometimes I'd get more potatoes than I knew what to do with.

Honestly I got kinda sick of getting such a giant bag of veggies that I (guiltily) had to rack my brain to figure out how to use up before the next week's bounty. One particular week I was so besieged by the bag o' veg that I decided to make something to 'use them up' which sounds kinda rude and escapist (and not really fulfilling my veggie eatin' duties proper-like) but heck, I had to do somethin' and quick! This recipe is inspired by a New Mexican chutney that my brother Shane gave me one Christmas that I couldn't get enough of. Actually he gave me a set of three sauces. One was a calabacitas (squash) chutney, and one was...something else which I can't remember. The third sauce was a alcohol-infused dessert sauce which I wanted to like but I didn't like THAT well (but it was new and interesting and I admired that).

Anywayyy...here is the approximate recipe that I used this time, which more or less resembles the recipe I made that day a couple years ago:




Celeste's Colorful Chicana Chutney
(Makes a giant batch) 

Approximate ingredients:

One gigantic yellow squash from Jeremy's co-worker, peeled and diced (you don't have to peel yours, but the skin was extra thick on this)
Two large yellow onions, diced
One large purple onion, diced
Several (a good half dozen or so) green tomatoes (I used green tomatoes from my garden) diced
A bag of frozen corn (yeah, I know) I also added an ear of fresh corn that I had...in fact I used another bag of mixed vegetables, too. Convenient way to get rid of that...
Mirepoix (carrots, celery, onion) diced
Lots o' garlic (probably 8 cloves) chopped
One large sweet potato (diced)
Several TBS of chile molido
2-3 TBS of comino
1 TBS cinnamon
1/2 TBS mace
1/2 TBS allspice
2 TBS paprika
1-2 TBS dried cilantro
A few grinds of pepper
1 TBS crushed red pepper
2 cups or so of apple cider vinegar, more if necessary
4 cups (I know!! but it's a condiment--so you're not going to eat a TON at a time) of organic demerara turbinado sugar (or whatever you have) I just like the rich flavor of a darker sugar. You can always add a little molasses to white sugar or something.


Note: One ingredient that I didn't use this time but I used in the first batch was pepitas (pumpkin seeds)...about a cup, I think. They  just gave this wonderful texture and nuttiness. And they go really well with the other flavors. In this batch, I left the seeds of the squash in there to mimic the pumpkin seeds that I couldn't seem to find in the grocery store. I didn't feel like driving to Ft. Collins to get them. I might change my mind if I think the chutney is lacking something...


The Method:

Basically you just throw all these diced ingredients along with the sugar and spices and vinegar, and cook down for a while. Not until the veggies are completely obliterated but until they're softened considerably and things start to thicken a bit. And once it's off the heat it'll thicken a bit more. I cooked it on medium for a good 30-40 minutes, then on low for about another 25 minutes or so. It actually took longer than the batch from a couple years ago because it was a larger batch this time. I don't know if there's an exact method for this. If so I'm probably missing it. What I'll do next (which isn't shown in that picture) is to take my immersion blender and cut things a bit smaller. I won't puree the mixture because I like some texture, but I want it to be a bit more spreadable, more like a condiment, a little less chunky. Obviously you don't have to do this. You can use a similar method with fruit (combined diced fruit with vinegar, sugar and any spices you like) cook a bit and serve with food. I love chutney with meat because it highlights the sweet plus savory combination but there's nothing saying you have to eat it with meat. You can really serve it with a variety of things. I gave some of this to the veggie pick-up lady and she ate it with mashed potatoes. She said she wanted to eat it on everything...hehee. I guess that's a compliment...

The nice thing about this recipe is that chutney is pretty versatile and people seem to make chutney with everything (a variety of fruit and vegetable combinations). Whatever you have extra of--whatever you have on hand. So if the ingredients to my chutney seem a little random it's because I used what I had on hand. The only thing I bought (besides the vinegar and sugar) was a red onion.

Try it, you'll like it! (tm Pele)