Eggplant & Tomato Pickle
For those who like Indian flavours, make room in your pantry for this pickle. It teams brilliantly with curries and lentils or it can be transformed into a dip with sour cream or yoghurt, sweet chilli sauce and a squeeze of lime. Or you can simply serve it with crackers or in a wrap as a flavour boost.
Makes 5-6 400g jars
• 1kg eggplant
• oil, to toss
• 2 tsp salt (first measure)
• 1⁄3 cup oil
• 1 tbsp mustard seeds
• 1⁄3 cup peeled and minced ginger
• ¼ cup finely chopped garlic
• 1½ tbsp toasted cumin seeds, crushed
• 1 tbsp fenugreek seeds, crushed
• 2½-3 tsp chilli powder or to taste
• 2 tsp salt (second measure)
• freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 2 medium onions, peeled and thinly sliced
• 1kg ripe tomatoes, cored if necessary and diced, or equivalent canned weight, with juice
• 2 tbsp tamarind concentrate*
• 1 cup sugar
• 1¼ cups cider vinegar
• 1 tbsp dried basil or 3 tbsp fresh, chopped
• 2½ tbsp tomato paste
Preheat oven to 190°C.
Slice the eggplant into batons, 1cm by 5cm. Transfer to two or three large oven trays in single layers. Toss eggplant to coat lightly with oil and the first measure of salt.
Roast for 25-30 minutes, until golden and cooked through. Set aside.
Heat the ⅓ cup of oil in a large, heavy-based saucepan over a medium-high heat.
Sauté the mustard seeds in the oil until they start popping, then remove from the heat and stir in the ginger, garlic, cumin, fenugreek, chilli, salt and pepper. Sauté until fragrant, transferring to a low heat.
Stir in the onion and sauté until softened. Add a little more oil if necessary.
Stir in the prepared tomatoes, tamarind, sugar, vinegar, basil and tomato paste.
Bring to simmer point and cook for 10 minutes before adding the roasted eggplant batons.
Cook for another 20 minutes, stirring gently to not break up the eggplant, or until the mixture reaches the desired consistency.
Spoon into hot, sterilised jars and seal with hot, sterilised screw-on metal lids.
It’s especially important to refrigerate this pickle after opening as the amounts of sugar and vinegar are not high.
*Tamarind
Commonly used throughout Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Pacific, tamarind has a tart fruit flavour and is often used instead of lemon as a souring agent. Some of the recipes use a tamarind concentrate. The best way to create this is from a block of pulp.
Take 125g from a block of tamarind pulp, available from any Asian food store. Break it up and soak in one cup of hot water for 15 minutes, breaking it up further as it soaks.
Push it through a sieve and discard leftover fibre and seeds. Measure the amount required and freeze the excess for future use.
Smoke & Lime Feijoa Chutney
It’s barely possible to make enough batches of this chutney because friends and neighbours queue for it. But hey, there are few things more rewarding or appreciated than the giving of a homemade preserve. Smoked paprika and lime engage with the other ingredients here in some mysterious alchemy to produce a complex and totally wonderful flavour.
Try it first on a cracker with vintage cheddar and go from there. For the best results, don’t be tempted to use a processor to chop the feijoas as this “muddies” the colour.
If pressed for time, cut the feijoas into 6 or 8 pieces, depending on size, and pulse small amounts in a processor.
Makes 9-10 400g jars
• 700g onions, preferably a mix of red and white, peeled
• 8 red chillies, seeded and chopped
• 2 limes, unpeeled, diced
• 1 large red capsicum, seeded and diced
• 200ml red wine vinegar
• 300ml orange juice (no preservatives or sugar)
• 3kg feijoas, unpeeled
• 20 fresh makrut (kaffir) lime leaves
• 1kg white sugar
• 500g brown sugar
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 tbsp whole coriander seeds
• 1¼ tsp chilli powder or to taste
• 2 tsp dulce (sweet) Spanish smoked paprika
• 1 tbsp salt
Chop the peeled onions roughly and place in a food processor with the chillies and limes.
Pulse until chopped small but not puréed.
Place the prepared onions, chillies, limes and capsicum in a large, heavy-based saucepan with the red wine vinegar and orange juice. Stir to mix and set over a low heat so the flavours start infusing while you prepare the feijoas.
Top and tail the feijoas but don’t peel. Cut into 1cm dice (about the size of your small fingernail), then add to the saucepan with the first 6 ingredients.
Stir in the lime leaves and the sugars.
Stir in the cinnamon stick, coriander seeds, chilli powder, smoked paprika and salt.
Simmer the mixture for about 1½ hours or until it has thickened. Test by putting a small amount on a freezer-chilled saucer. After a few minutes, if it wrinkles when nudged with a finger it is ready. Discard the lime leaves and cinnamon stick.
Pour into hot sterilised jars and seal with hot, sterilised, screw-on metal lids.
Life’s Too Short Marmalade
This marmalade is for those who like the best in life. It is a little more time-consuming in terms of yield, but it is worth it. The secret is in the method; flavour is maximised by keeping sugar to a minimum and not adding any water – it’s just fruit flesh, zest and a minimum of sugar to preserve and enhance the flavours. The flavours here are bold and intensely orange, but balanced by the lime to create a particularly delicious spread. You can use only oranges for this marmalade or, if you prefer, you can experiment with other citrus.
Makes 2 x 350g jars
• 1kg thin-skinned oranges
• 250g limes (3-4, depending on size)
• 500g sugar
• 2 tbsp peeled and finely chopped fresh ginger (optional)
Using a zester preferably (a truncated “blade” with 6 small holes), or a floating-blade (potato) peeler, remove the zest from all the fruit, ensuring that none of the pith is attached. Roughly chop the long strips of zest if a zester has been used, or finely slice the peeled zest and roughly chop. Transfer to a large saucepan.
With a sharp knife, pare the pith from all the fruit and discard.
Dice the fruit small, about 5mm, discarding any core or obvious membrane. Try not to lose any juice.
Transfer the diced fruit and juice to the saucepan with the zest, stir in the sugar and ginger (if using) and bring to a simmer point.
Simmer, uncovered, for 25-30 minutes, stirring regularly.
Test by placing ½ teaspoon of the marmalade on a freezer-cooled saucer, then nudge with a finger. If the surface ripples, it is ready to pour into hot, sterilised jars and seal with sterilised screw-on metal lids. l
An edited extract from Relish: Chutneys, relishes, preserves, sauces & dips from around the world, by Rowan Bishop (Bateman Books, RRP $45).
