Apple, Mint and Chilli Chutney

Servings: approx. 300-400 g
Prep Time: 10 mins
Cook Time: 5 mins
Difficulty: easy
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Categories: Indian

This is a chutney that refreshes and heats in the same mouthful.

3 green ingredients – mint, apple, and chilli – make this vibrant chutney. Enhanced by lemon and balanced by sugar, the addiction of this dish comes from your mouth filling with the fizzing fresh punch of tart apples, followed by a whack of heat from the chillies. It is a chutney you should respect and remember.

This chutney will compliment any Indian meat or vegetable dish.

EQUIPMENT

Cookware: Large food processor

Specialist utensils: Lemon juicer, peeler/knife, spatula

RECOMMENDED INGREDIENTS*

100 g fresh mint
3 green apples (tart. Ideally, Granny Smith)
2 green chillies (if they are not hot, add another. To test, cut one and place the open end very gently against your lip. If it burns brightly when you lick your lip and you regret following this advice, it’s hot enough.)
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1 level dessert spoon caster sugar
Fine table salt

METHOD

Wash the mint and pick the leaves off the stalks, discarding any brown or caterpillar eaten ones. Add to the food processor with thickly sliced chillies and pulse a few times. This is to give the mint and chillies a head-start in breaking down as they are more fibrous than the apples.
Peel and core the apples, and cut into quarter chunks. Add these to the food processor, along with the juice of half a lemon and sugar. Pulse and stir a few times to ensure it is all chopped evenly. Do not turn it into mush.
Now stir through a good pinch of salt. (Adding salt at the start releases all the water from the ingredients and you will be left with a pool of vibrant green liquid at the bottom. It won’t ruin the chutney but feels a waste.) Taste for sweet, sour, salt and heat. If it’s too sweet: add more lemon; too sour: add sugar; under seasoned: add salt; not hot enough: add a roughly chopped chilli. The chutney should be slightly on the tart side.
Decant into a sealed glass jar or jam jar, leaving any liquid at the bottom of the food processor. The chutney is a bit wet due to the nature of the apples, lemon and salt, but it should not be sitting in a large pool of water. A little water at the bottom of the jar is fine. Store in the fridge for up to 10 days.