Mango Chutney

(about 1 pint)

This past year in particular, I have been shocked by some of the prices at the grocery store. A small jar of mango chutney this week, $6. The main ingredient was sugar and the stuff wasn't even organic.

I spent about five minutes looking at the ingredients of several different brands and decided to make my own.  How hard could it be?

Mangoes were on sale, 79 cents each, so I grabbed two of them. I also picked up some crystallized ginger in the bulk food section thinking that would make a nice addition.

I wasn't sure about the sugar/vinegar ratio, so in a separate bowl I kept adding sugar and vinegar until it seemed balanced to me. I ended up with 3/4 cup sugar and 1/2 cup vinegar. When I added this to the onion, chile and mango mixture, it was still working for me.

This chutney is delicious. More flavourful and less sweet than the commercial brands I've been buying. I ended up with slightly more than a pint (I thought it would make more); next time I will double this recipe.

I served this chutney with some butter chicken I made this week..



1 tbsp olive oil
1 large clove garlic, minced
1 tbsp ginger, minced
1 medium red onion, chopped (about 1 cup)
1 hatch chile,  chopped (about 1 cup)
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp ground cardamon
1/2 tsp Cole's mustard powder
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/4 - 1/2 tsp red chili flakes, to taste
2 firm (under-ripe) mangoes, peeled, pitted and chopped (about 3 cups)
1/2 cup crystallized ginger, chopped
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1 tsp powdered pectin
3/4 cup brown sugar

Heat the oil in a heavy pot. Add the garlic and saute for about a minute. Add the ginger, onions and hatch chile. Saute until the onion is soft.

Add the coriander, cardamon, mustard, salt  and chili flakes. Cook for another minute, stirring the spices into the mixture. Stir in the mango, crystallized ginger and vinegar.

Stir the pectin into the sugar and add that to the pot. Bring the chutney to a boil. Lower the heat a bit and simmer uncovered, stirring from time to time for about 30 minutes or until the chutney has thickened.

Ladle into a hot sterilized jar, cover, cool and keep refrigerated.

This chutney should keep for about a month refrigerated. It seems like too much work to process a small batch like this in water, but if you are planning on keeping it longer than one month, then ladle the chutney into a  hot sterilized jar, leaving about a 1/2" head space. Cover with a metal lid, and screw on the band. Process in boiling water bath 8 minutes (extend this time to 15 minutes if your jars weren't hot and sterilized beforehand). Remove from the water and leave to cool.