Gran's Green Tomato Chutney

My gran's been making this wonderfully tangy and sweet green tomato chutney for as long as I can remember. It's fantastic as a relish in a burger or just with cheese and biscuits.

It's a brilliant way to use up unripe tomatoes if the weather (like this year) hasn't been great for them. I picked 5kg of green tomatoes from my allotment as they were starting to get blight then made two batches of this stuff. Some will be saved for Christmas presents and some will get eaten over the year.

Step 1: Ingredients

Ingredients:

• 2.5kg green tomatoes, roughly chopped
• 0.5kg onions, finely sliced
• 4 tsp / 30g salt
• 1L malt vinegar
• 0.5kg soft light brown sugar
• 250g sultanas, roughly chopped
• 3 tsp / 20g ground pepper

Equipment:

• Preserving pan or other large lidless pan
• 7 - 10 jars with lids
• Food wrap / cling film
• Sticky labels

Approximate cost: 2.5 GBP per batch (if you grew the tomatoes).

Comments

[jclouseau42]

I followed this instructable a couple of years back and it was FANTASTIC!!! If I ever get a whole bunch of green tomatoes again at the end of the year I'll be back to do it all again!

[Maireb56]

Thanks for a great recipe. I made 5 jars - just over half the recipe and it is delicious. It is the first time I've made chutney and it won't be the last!!

[okie2oz]

Have loads of green tomatoes so excitded to find this recipe. So the jars need no hot water bath and can just be stored in my pantry? Love to give some for holiday gifts. Thanks...

[Jayefuu]

I don't use a hot water bath, the chutney's at 100C+ and the jars are at 150C when I steralise them, a plastic or wax paper disc on the surface also helps to keep oxygen/bacteria off the surface of stored chutney. I think the water bath is used for when you're canning rather than making chutney/jam. Using the above method my chutney's kept for over 6 months before. I'm no expert though :)

[hazel07834]

this chutney looks delicious,it has inspired me to raid the 'green'house ,do you think it would work as well with white vinegar( the distilled type) i have loads of this left after pickling a glut of eggs in the summer.
ta.....

[okie2oz]

Appreciate your reply. Trying to convert to U.S. measurements. Think the tomatoes may be about 5½ lbs. and onions about 1 lb.or so. Any idea how many cups (or liters, quarts, etc) of chopped tomatos and onions you had? Just want to make sure that my measurements are correct. Yum - can't wait to make this recipe. Out to pick.

[mrs w]

Made this chutney today and managed to get 11 jars out of the recipe, mmm delicious, Thanks.

[micrajo]

Yay! raided my mums greenhouse for green tomatoes so I can make another batch of this. Only had 1.8kg so have made up the weight with 4 big bramleys. Added some scotch bonnets too for abit of a kick. Gave 2 jars away of my last batch and almost eaten the other 2 so has to be done. Bubbling away now :D

[Jayefuu]

Excellent, glad you like it.

[robertbobbybee10]

this is the first time i;v made chutney . i added a large teaspoon of chili powder to your recipe to give it a little bite.it turned out absolutely delicious ,i will certainly be making more and the beauty of it is its so simple to make, many thanks.!

[Jayefuu]

You're welcome :)

[grumpy62]

Made the Chutney today,put a test dollop on plate to cool,while bottling the rest,wow,its fantastic,have put my bottles away now to mature,dont know how long i will wait,its now 10.30pm,think i may just try a few spoonfuls on some cheddar cheese and crackers,great recipe 20/10

[Jayefuu]

Glad you like it.

[aking29]

I'm trusting Jayefuu with my babies. A slow trickle of ripe tomatoes has entertained me over the the last few weeks but now it's chutney o'clock.

I'm making 3 batches of the baitches.

Batch A (control batch) will be pro rata the S.O.P. as posited by Jayefuu.

Batches B&C will stick to the broad formula but deviate in devious ways

Batch B (posh batch) will be with 30% balsamic vinegar/ 70% malt ratio and 50/50 figs to sultanas. I shall add the balsamic towards the end of the process.

Batch C (apocalypse batch) will be with 10% scotch bonnet/ 20% dutch chilli/ 20% garlic/ 50% onion ratio

batch C may need to be prepared in a fume cupboard


FORZA CHUTNEY!!!

[Jayefuu]

How did it go? Oh you're from Hove! My parents live near there.

[aking29]

delicious - unfortunately I've eaten 20% of the produce already so looks like I'm going to have to BUY Christmas presents!

On the plus side I've been inspired to branch out and am as I type making up a small batch of fig and greengage chutney to go in some under-sized jars

Thanks for the recipe

[elsda01]

hI! am making my first batch of chutney, and see people mention adding a cooking apple or two. so as a friend has an apple tree, I am going to throw some in - the question is, do I add the apples right at the beginning of cooking, or, would they go too pulpy so should I add them half way through do you think?
similar with chillis, adding a couple of them, should I add at beginning? many thanks :)

[Good life]

Just tasted the liquor after an hour of simmering. Tempted to start eating!
How long should I (cook) the jars for?

[Jayefuu]

I usually put them in for half an hour. The aim is to dry them out if you've just washed them and bring them above a temperature for any bacteria in the jar to die.

[Rich524]

Till they're light brown and crispy round the edges

[Good life]

Strange, Rich524, after half an hour mine are still clear, please enlighten me as to how long I have to cook them to achieve "Light Brown and Crispy"

[marcheta]

Actually it's really rather good. Especially with some good strong cheese. I don't think the four jars that I made will last very long.

Thanks so much for the recipe. First chutney I have ever made. We got an alloment about a month ago so I expect I will be making lots next year. This lot was from grow-bags in my very small garden.

[emma1104]

I'm just making this. I was suppose to get rid of the vinegar wasn't I?

[Jayefuu]

Nope, the vinegar stays. The acidity of vinegar in chutneys is what helps them to keep for so long. It was the salty tomato water that you get rid of. If you put salt in the tomatoes the night before it draws out some of the water from them, it helps reduce cooking time. (i think)

[emma1104]

opps, better rectifying that then.

[marcheta]

Oh good grief!! I am in the middle of making a batch of this chutney with some added apples and I thought I would spice it up with some (as I thought) sweet chilli paste. I threw in 2 tsp's then realised it was hot chilli paste.

I'll let you know if it is edible.

[Jayefuu]

Ooops! I'm sure someone will eat it.

[mrswise]

I got really excited about this recipe, and soaked the tomatoes and onion overnight as suggested. I threw out about 500ml juice from the tomatoes this morning, but still can't get it to reduce. It's been on for over 4hrs and only reduced by about a third so far. I guess it's just a game of patience?

[Jayefuu]

Yup! Keep it simmering. Maybe turn it up a tiny bit, make sure the lid's off.

[mrswise]

Turned it up a bit and finally it has reduced enough! Looks delicious. Thank you for the recipe.

[Rich524]

I used your recipe as a guide and while I can still vaguely remember what I did I thought I'd comment here!
1) What I had. About 1.5 Kg. Mostly green and some red, Tomatoes.
2) 0.25 Kg Onions
3) 15grm salt
4) 1/2 litre Sarasons pickling vinegar
5) 0.25 Kg DARK brown sugar. ( What I had in the cupboard)
6) 125 grm. raisens (--------------+-------------------- )
7) 10 gm BLACK pepper (--------------+--------------------)
8) 1/2 tsp DRIED CHILLI FLAKES (-----------+--------------------)
9) 1 CARROT diced
10) 1 SQUASH, About 9"-12" long, Diced. ( a gift from a friend)

I broadly followed the method of cooking but added the carrots about 15-20 mins from the end to add a bit of crunch.
I MUST say the result was quite astounding and hardly distinguishable from Barnstones Pickle ( lol. ). Indeed my friends say it is better.
Next time I will add more carrot, otherwise it was perfect

[Rich524]

That should read
1 LITRE VINEGAR, Sorry

[micrajo]

What a great recipe! Never made chutney before but thought i'd give it a go as I had lots of tomatoes that didn't ripen this year. Really easy to follow (I used half of everything) and now have 4 jars of scrumy chutney. I don't usually follow recipes exact but glad I did here. Next year I might mix it up by adding some cooking apples or chillies :)

[Jayefuu]

Glad you liked it. Apples and chillies are a good idea :)

[Kevinandkaren]

Just made this last night we added some chillies for a bit of spice very easy to follow and absolutely gorgeous I can even say better than my mams

[angiecav]

We had loads of green tomatoes after an awful summer so after making a Green Tomato Cake, which was very similar to carrot cake, I came across this recipe which sounds delicious.Tomatoes and onions been soaking overnight, moving onto next stage. Will upload pics when I'm done. Many thanks.

[lorraine x]

just started your chutney recipe, only could muster up 1 k of green tomatoes, used red to make up the weight but as far as the rest of the recipe goes sticking true to your way, first time i have tried any kind of chutney and cant wait to try, thankyou so much for your easy to follow recipe x

[tim_n]

thanks for the recipe Jayefuu

Some on the hob - I increased the recipe to do 3kg of toms.

Seems to be OK so far, it's been boiling 2hrs but not quite what I'd call chutney yet.

I don't like chutney, and it taste OK now, so in three months it should be very tasty

[tim_n]

Might have left it too long, but looks/smells good.

[Jayefuu]

Excellent! I wish I had green tomatoes this year. I didn't get a chance to plant anything what with moving around. Next year maybe!