January 24, 2012

Banana Chutney

GOSH! I can't believe there is almost two months since I last posted on this blog! Not much has happened here and I haven't been in the 'cooking mood' either... but that changed yesterday! :)
We have a few different varieties of bananas in our garden. Before I settled here, I never thought of that; to us Northerners bananas are bananas - I thought. Since my childhood I have always loved bananas, and I remember I loved the label and box where it was printed 'Chiquita'! :)  And then of course; ABBA's popular song 'Chiquitita' - that doesn't have anything to do with the trade mark 'Chiquita'! :)) How exotic that was for a little girl! :) Btw, I love the Spanish version of 'Chiquitita'! Strolling down memory lane - lol! Think I'll have to listen to ABBA while sewing today...
Due to dreadful slow I-net connection I'm not able to play the videos - to see if it works - but I hope you are able to view/play the song. Proudly called 'Cyber Island' by authorities (I really don't know why!), Mauritius has one of the slowest I-net connection in the world!  
  
Well, I was not supposed to talk about ABBA...!!! Carried away - as always! :)
What do you do when you have 30+ bananas you are not able to eat? I love bananas, but there are limits for how many bananas hubby and I can consume in a day. I can make banana loafs, banana pie and all that stuff, but recipes call for only a few bananas..... I needed a recipe with lots of bananas.... Jam? No, not very tempting!
The bananas look terrible and not usable, but that's the peel only; the flesh/fruit is perfectly fine.


After going through several cook books, I ended up with the South African cookbook 'Cook and Enjoy' (S.J.A. de Villiers), where recipes are HUGE!
I found a banana chutney recipe that calls for 30 bananas! Perfect! But since I had not made it earlier, I didn't dare to use the full recipe, so I divided it in half - and that turned out more than enough for the two of us.
Very easy to make; all the ingredients go into the pot


The chutney simmered for approx 2 hours. It has thickened and got the consistency of soft jam.


Add to jars while still hot


I got six jars (375g / 13 ounce?) out of half portion.


The chutney turned out yummy! I love the mix of sweet and sour and the touch of cayenne pepper.


Banana Chutney (full) recipe

30 bananas
250 g (1 2/3 C ) seedless raisins
1 small onion, finely chopped
500 g (2 1/2 C ) brown sugar
30 ml (2 T ) ground ginger
2 chillies, seeded and chopped
15 ml (1 T ) salt
750 ml (3 C ) white wine or grape vinegar

How to;

1) Peel and slice the bananas
2) Combine all ingredients and cook in vinegar for 1 1/2 - 2 hours.
3) Bottle and seal while hot.

Note:

1) Instead of the 'dreadful' :) chillies, I used approx 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper.
2) Didn't have white wine or grape vinegar, instead I used a mix of thyme vinegar, balsamic vinegar and water.

Recipe from COOK & ENJOY - S.J.A. de Villiers

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I've made rusks too, and been on a trip, but that will be other posts - coming soon!



2 comments:

Jeanette Heyns said...

Thanks this looks like a good one..I live in Turkey on a boat, in the banana belt...am a South African, Familiar with the old 'Cook and Enjoy' but sadly left it at home in Cape Town..I made use of this cook book since I got married 48 years ago and just know that my chutney will come out good, like all her recipes. Thank you for posting it...Jeanette Heyns in Alanya Turkey

STC Technologies said...

I made this recipe using ordinary white vinegar, and the vinegar taste was WAY TOO STRONG!!! I made 2 more batches without the vinegar, added the contents of the first batch, and now I have a great tasting chutney. Be warned.. USE the vinegar mentioned, and don't substitute.
STC Technologies