AuthorBen WatsonCategoryVegetable, Winter

If you ordered from us at Christmas, hopefully you will have already enjoyed our 'Happy Christmas Chutney' . Born out of an abundance of butternut squash from the veg farm, we thought it was pretty good. So good in fact, that it can be enjoyed year round, so we've renamed it Spicy Squash and Apple Chutney. The squashes are still around for a good month or so, so why not give your own version a try?

Yields1 Serving

4 tbsp sunflower oil

2 large onions, finely chopped

100 g piece of ginger, peeled and thinly shredded

1 fat red chilli,deseeded and finely chopped

15 cardamom pods, bashed open

2 long cinnamon sticks, snapped in half

1 tbsp black mustard seeds

2 tsp cumin seeds

6 garlic cloves, chopped

1 kg butternut squash or pumpkin flesh, peeled and cut into sugar cube sized pieces

0.50 kg diced butternut squash, roasted for 20 mins at 200 degrees

3 Bramley apples, peeled and cut into 1 cm cubes

1 tsp ground turmeric

500 g light soft brown sugar

300 ml cider vinegar

Heat the oil in a large preserving pan, then gently fry the onions, ginger, chilli, cardamom, cinnamon, mustard and cumin seeds together for 5 minutes, until the spices are aromatic.

Stir in the garlic, squash and apples, then cook for 10 - 15 minutes more, until the onions and apples are soft and the squash yields a little here and there.

Stir in the turmeric and sugar and let it melt around the vegetables.

Simmer for 5 minutes. This process almost candies the chunks of squash or pumpkin, so that it doesn't break down entirely during the next step.

Pour in the vinegar, season with 2 tsp of salt then bring the chutney back to a simmer.
Cook, stirring regularly for about 30 minutes or until the apple has cooked down to make a squishy base for the chutney, with chunks of squash and a little syrupiness in the bottom of the pan.

Add the roasted squash, switch off the heat and stir in.
Hot fill to sterile jars. The roasted squash will absorb liquid, so make sure it isn't too dry.

Ingredients