Gooseberry Chutney

As I write this, summer is coming to an end and although it is sad, there are positive things as well. One of those positives is that we have lots of fresh berries and fruits available to enjoy and gooseberries in particular are something I haven't done anything with in a long time. But then my uncle came by with a whole bag of gooseberries that he had grown on his allotment and I got an opportunity to make something out of them. The first thought was a pie or some kind of dessert, but in the end I ended up making chutney instead. This way I can enjoy the gooseberry flavor well into the winter.

Chutney is an excellent accompaniment to food such as grilled meat or cold cut. I also usually have it as a cheese plate instead of (or in combination with) classics such as fig marmalade. It is also a good way to give sauces and stews a little extra flavor (see e.g. recipe for Chicken Madras which uses mango chutney).

It is not particularly difficult to make your own chutney and the possibilities for modifying the taste and texture are big, but I choose to make a simple recipe that can be built on. I use both ginger and fresh chilies to give the chutney a slight hint of heat, but it still turns out to be a fairly mild version that you could easily scale up if you so desired. I think a habanero instead of the 2 regular (rather weak) chilies I use in this recipe would have been perfect if you want to increase the strength, but this is not something I've tried so far so I'll leave it as a later experiment.

As chutney contains a lot of sugar and vinegar, an unopened jar will last a long time at room temperature, but an opened jar should be kept cool (e.g. refrigerator). However, the shelf life is very long provided that it has been handled correctly. An opened jar that has been sitting out at room temperature shortens its shelf life, so keep an eye on the chutney by looking and smelling it to make sure it's safe to eat. If you suspect it may have gone bad, throw it away rather than take a chance.

You can use the oven to sterilize the jam jars. Place the glass jars (without rubber seals) in the oven and then set it to 180°C. After the oven has reached this temperature, leave the jars there for 30 minutes. The slow heating reduces the risk of the glass jars cracking. Use the hot jars immediately, taking care not to touch the surfaces that come into contact with the food. You can also boil the cans in water for at least one minute.