ApplePalooza ~ Indian Apple Chutney

I was gifted about 80 pounds of apples last Sunday.  Yeah, I am lucky.  Boy, was I doing the happy dance all over the place but then reality kicked in.  OH, MY!!!!  What am I going to do with all these awesome darn apples?  

First, I had to do an inventory of what I had left in my canning stock that was apple related.  I did not get apples last fall, well I did but I could not can them.  They were awful.  I guess this is God saying here since you did not get any last fall I am blessing you.  In my inventory, I found that my apple butter was a bit low.  So, of course, I used 10 lbs to make apple butter right away.  BUT what else can I do with all these apples?  I had granny smith and golden and red delicious to work with.

One of the recipes I kept seeing was Indian Apple Chutney. I mean seriously ever search I made came back with at least one recipe for the stuff.  I looked at the recipes and thought, would we like this?  Would my friends like this?  I really was not sure but heck I had all those apples and this would use 16 cups.  HAHA that is only like 5 lbs of apples.  Most of the recipes called for a high amount of raisins, 7 cups to be exact.  I realize that the raisins was somewhat for acidity but really 7 freakin cups or raisins?  Again, I kept looking at other recipes but again the Indian Apple Chutney kept rearing its head.  Finally, I found just a plain apple chutney that called or 12 ounces of raisins.  The only difference in it as the other was the curry powder.  Plus this was on an approved site so I knew it was safe.  Since curry was only for seasoning it was safe to add and it would still be a safe recipe.  

I have to say as I worked on this recipe today I was overwhelmed with the aroma in my house.  Not just my kitchen but my entire house.  It is a bit hard to explain the scent but it was hearty smelling not sweet.  I really wish at times I could just bottle the aroma in my house as I cook and/or can.  I bet I could make a million on that alone.  

The recipe was a bit long, lots of ingredients but besides the raisins, I was pretty good to go.  Raisins are pretty expensive and I have never really been a huge fan of them, which was another reason I was not sure about making this recipe.  I like to be frugal and spending $10 on something for a new recipe was difficult for me.  Thank goodness I found the recipe that called for less than a pound, 12-ounce verses 2 lbs.  

I used a mix of granny smith and red delicious due to the fact the red delicious were already going bad and needed to be worked pretty quickly.  I have some in my dehydrator as I type.  You need to wash, core and chop them up pretty well.  You also need to chop one cup of onion.  I used a sweet onion.  By the way, I also have over 70 lbs of onions from the same guy.  I used a red bell pepper chopped to make a cup.

After that, you mix the rest of the recipe into your pot.  I used an enamel cast iron pot.  You need to let it come to a boil then reduce to a simmer until it thickens up quite a bit.  

Overall this is a simple recipe but a bit time consuming due to all the chopping.  I do not use a food processor most of the time.  

Indian Apple Chutney

Ingredients

• 16 Cups chopped apples
• 1 Cup chopped sweet onion
• 1 Cup red bell pepper
• 2 tsp chopped jalapenos
• 12 oz golden raisins 
• 4 Cups light brown sugar
• 3 tbsp mustard seeds
• 2 tbsp ground ginger
• 2 tbsp ground allspice
• 2 tsp curry powder
• 2 tsp canning salt
• 1 clove of garlic chopped
• 4 Cups cider vinegar 

Directions

• Wash 16 cups apples leaving the peel on them 
• Chop your onion
• Chop the red bell pepper
• Chop the jalapeno peppers
• Add all to your pot with all the other ingredients
• Bring to boil and then simmer until thickened
• Sterilize jars (6 to 7 pints) 
• Bring your water bath canner to a boil and add your jars to the water
• Water bath for 15 minutes
• Turn off and allow to sit for 10 minutes before getting out your jars

One of the recipes I looked at called for malt vinegar so I actually added about half of the malt vinegar and the other was cider vinegar

I also used a medley of raisins where were primarily golden.

While I had my reservations about this recipe it tastes delightful.  I am now extremely excited about it and probably will make at least one more run.

The recipe made exactly 7 pints.  As you can see I used 6 pints and 2 half pint jars.  Of course, this could vary if you allow yours to cook down more then I did.  

Tomorrow I will be making Apple Relish so stay tuned.

As always please Enjoy!!