Tomatilla Chutney: Last of the Summer Vegetables.

I really like Tomatillas. (Or Tomatillos of you insist but they are called both and since they are inherently the reproductive meachanism of the plant I prefer to think of them as feminine). Hence the name of the blog. But I don’t just like the fruit itself. I also like the way it grows in my garden (like a weed and happily) and the way it grows its own wrapper along with it. We have grown enough of these over the years that the garden is basically seeded with volunteers every year and this year was no exception. So I gathered about four pounds of tomatillas and planned on preserving them in some way. Method one was a chutney to go with a lovely meal of Hill Station Pilau rice, spice-crusted turkey cutlets and greens with ginger and garlic.

Tomatilla Chutney

I roughly chopped four onions. I put two tablepoons of olive oil in a saucepan and got it hot and droppped in two whole cayenne chillis (also from the garden) and a teaspoon of coriander seeds and a teaspoon of de-hulled cardamom seeds. I let them all brown for a bit and then dropped in the onion and cut a pound of tomatillas into quarters. I also peeled six cloves of garlic and a two inch piece of fresh ginger and chopped them up fast in the small chopper attachment for our blender. Then I added the garlic/ginger mixture followed by the tomatillas and stirred it all up. I added two tablespoons of tarragon vinegar and two tablespoons of sugar and a teaspoon of salt. I let it cook until it was all soft and combined – about ten minutes and stirred in a teaspoon of garam masala and then I let it cook on very low another ten minutes until thicker. Then I took a very recently cleaned jar and popped the chutney in and stuck it in the fridge. The rest got used in spoonfulls alongside the cutlets and it was FANTASTIC. This will be an annual treat I believe. Oh – I did fish the chillis out before putting it in the jar!