Spicy pear chutney

Autumn time is preserve time... and when my Mum came over the other week, she insisted on making another quintessentially English preserve. I jumped on the occasion since Zlamushka is holding a Christmas preserve event for which this would just be perfect.
Earlier in the year, my Mum and I had been making Seville orange marmelade, this time, she had her eyes on chutney. This sweet & sour (and sometimes spicy) preserve is, of course, big here in the UK, due to Britain's large Indian population. Whereas a traditional Indian chutney is more often than not made fresh to be consumed immediately and a traditional grinding stone used for its preparation, the UK version you find in every supermarket up and down the country is a more convenient affair, prepared very much like a fruit preserve: ingredients chopped up roughly, cooked on the stove for the better part of an hour, then transferred into sterilised jars for keeping.

I went even further than that, making this chutney entirely in the Thermomix - thus no chopping or stirring was required and I could chat leisurely with my Mum while making some bread and fixing dinner for the kids at the same time. (No need to panick, though, the instructions below are for everyone, whether they possess a food processor or make it all by hand!)

That's what I love about the Thermomix, it allows me to throw together so many things that would otherwise be either labour intensive or just need constant attention, whereas this chutney pretty much makes itself once I've weighed the ingredients into the bowl... it'll do the chopping, cooking and stirring all in one place and I can get a million other things done in the meantime. So these days, I can make preserves in preparation for Christmas or as a home-made birthday present, which would normally require at least an hour of my full attention, without so much as lifting a finger... Call it cheating, of you want, for me it's a life-saver and helps keep me (relatively) sane!

Spicy pear chutney
(makes 4-5 medium-sized jars)

70 ml olive oil for cooking
5 cm fresh ginger root (peeled)
4 large cloves garlic (peeled)
5 large Conference pears (unpeeled, but seeds & stem removed, cut into quarters)
zest of 1 unwaxed lemon
zest of 1 unwaxed orange
50 g sultanas
150 g dried apricots
50 g dried cranberries
1 large sprig rosemary (leaves only)
1 tsp chilli flakes (more or less to taste)
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp coarse-ground pepper
1 tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp ground cardamom
160 ml cider vinegar

Heat olive oil in a heavy-based pan. Crush the garlic and grate the ginger finely, then add to the hot oil. Cook over a low heat until just starting to brown.
Chop the pears further to about 1 cm dice and add to the pan. Finely grate the citrus zest (or use a zester), chop the apricots roughly and add them and all remaining ingredients to the pan.
Cook for about 30 minutes at low heat, stirring constantly.
Fill into sterilised jars, close the lid firmly, then stand on their heads to cool.
Keeps in the fridge for about a month at the very least.

Instructions for Thermomix users:
Weigh olive oil into the bowl. Drop ginger and garlic onto the running blades. Scrape down the sides, then start cooking for 30 minutes / 100 C / speed 2. Add all the other ingredients in the order listed.
If the fruit isn't quite chopped as small as you'd like it, blitz for no more than a couple of seconds before pouring out.
Fill into sterilised jars, close the lid firmly than stand on their heads to cool.
Keeps in the fridge for about a month at the very least.

Comments

[Erin]

That thermomix looks amazing. I don't think I have ever seen anything like that before. I can see how it can be an absolute lifesaver!
The chutney looks fantastic!

[Sanja]

this sound and look delicious but I'm afraid it would be to spicy for me. It's making me so sad that I can't eat too spicy food. Maybe I'll tray some less spicy variation. Thanks for great recipe! And thanks for discovering Thermomix to me. It's complete revelation! I'll add it to my wish list for sure!

[Katie]

Sounds interesting. I ahve made quite a bit of chutney before but never thought to put pears in it. Thanks for the idea.

[ecobabe]

1. I had a beautiful homemade pear and walnut chutney with some creamy blue cheese on the weekend and the match was just made in heaven. I will definitely give your recipe a try - once I have a kitchen again...

2. I have my Thermomix demo happening this weekend and by Sunday I may even be the proud owner of one. I don't think the Thermomix demonstrator is truly prepared for the bombsite our renovation site actually is.

Bring on the festive season I say!

[Zlamushka]

This is a fab recipe.I love the spice combo. I cant believe it is all for me :-) Slurp, hosting events is FUN! thank you so much for participating.

[Christina]

This looks great - I love pear preserves (which is odd as I really don't like raw pears).

And darn, but I want a Thermomix!

[Chef JP]

Really enjoyed this recipe. I do a food blog round-up every Friday and will definitely give this a mention.

[Susan from Food Blogga]

Oh, my this is just heavenly, Johanna. I love all of the dried fruits and spices--I can almost smell those spices! And I've been on a pear kick lately, so this one's going on the "to make" list.