Roasted tomato chutney

Roasted tomato chutney is a thick, hot condiment. Photo / Janna Dixon

This is another traveller. It started as a recipe from well-known Australian chef Phillip Searle. My Sydney foodie friend Jan made it, modified it and sent it to me. It's a little time consuming but it has to be one of the best tomato chutneys you will ever make. Unctuous and dark, it goes well with everything.

2tbsp black mustard seeds
400ml malt vinegar
5kg ripe tomatoes
300ml of olive oil
200g of peeled chopped ginger
20 cloves of garlic peeled and crushed
2tbsp of ground turmeric
4tbsp roasted cumin seeds
2tbsp sambal oelek
250g of palm sugar
100ml fish sauce

1 Soak the mustard seeds overnight in the malt vinegar.

2 Cut the tomatoes in half and roast them in the olive oil for up to three hours in a medium oven. Use several baking dishes to do this or roast in batches. The tomatoes lose a lot of water and that creates steam and stops the roasting process. The tomatoes should end up dark and almost dry.

3 Blend all the other ingredients and simmer slowly for an hour.

4 Add the tomatoes and their roasting oil and cook for two more hours, adding more oil if required.

5 This will result in a thick, hot condiment with a very rustic texture. If you feel it is too "textured" you can pulse the chutney in a blender to smooth it out.