Chutney for all

This year I had access to lots of unripe tomatoes. Our late summer was unfavorable for tomatoes, but favorable for my new favorite condiment, tomato chutney.

I based my recipe on that of the only celebrity I've ever met, Mollie Katzen. She was in the best supermarket in existence, The Berkeley Bowl, dishing out some of her new heat & eat soups. Not being prepared for this sighting, I'm sure I was a total dork. (Who am I kidding - I'd have been a dork regardless.) I mustered the courage to approach her and thank her for the The New Moosewood Cookbook, home of my hummus, home of my samosas, home of my more vegetarian fantasies. This recipe stems from there as well.

I'm not going to spell out her recipe because I don't have permission to do so, but I can surely say that mine was a simmered combination of unripe green tomatoes, ginger, spices (heavy on the cumin, coriander, and mustard), garlic, a bit of sugar, spicy peppers, and some apple cider vinegar to bring it all together. Then I canned it. In one variation I split the tomatoes with some pears.

You'd think I was trying to take shitty pictures.

Appetizers are served.

What do I eat this with? Oh, about everything. Above you can see it dressing up cheese and crackers. I've also mixed it with rice and chicken. I've put it on sandwiches - even egg sandwiches. I've eaten it with naan and spinach. I've mixed it with whatever is in the crockpot for some added depth of flavor. I'm clearly diggin this stuff.

When I give it as a gift this Christmas I'll want to add a card with some recipe suggestions, so what I'm doing is technically research. Research, people. Not gorging.