I spent ages making a kasundi sauce tonight.YUCK it was sickly sweet and gross.I had a bit on a few crackers & some in my pasta and realised there was NO WAY I could bottle it - sickly sweet, cloying and tasting only like sugar.yet I used LESS sugar than recipes stated.It was vile.
Nearly 2 kgs of beautiful heirloom tomatoes wasted.Not to mention the spices etc.
I'm so sick of wasting my time and ingredients on crappy chutneys and sauces that have to be thrown out or given to the compost, worms or chooks because they are so horribly sweet, tasteless or nasty!
Sorry just venting but I will look through all the recipes here and see if anyone has had good success with some nice preserves.I have about one million kilos of tomatoes and chillies coming up so I really need some GOOD recipes !
fifie,
Feb 6, 9:40am
Oh i'd be devastated after all that hard workcan you not revive it by adding some chilli or something to beef it up a bit. We have heaps of tomatoes to a bit later on and i stick to my usual ones we like. Roasted tomato sauce for pasta's spaghetti bol etc that goes in the freezer, tomato relish, dried tomatoes do heaps of them, and tomato soup in the crock pot that keeps us going for winter. Use the search function there is a lot of good tomatoes recipe threads there.
cameron-albany,
Feb 6, 10:00am
thanks yes I know I was really P+d off!But I will look for some other recipes and maybe make a half-batch.I'm sure it's not *me* - I'm generally a good cook who pays attention to detail but I think sometimes it's a taste-preference.some people love super-sweet sauces/chutneys - I can't stand them !Much prefer piquant or chilli-based tastes with a hint of molasses/sugar.I'd rather have a less-sweet recipe.Oh well - onward & upward, my garden is burgeoning with an abundance of heirloom toms & chillies so I'll just wait & see what recipes I can glean from here & some books.
Thanks and I'll do a search on recipes here too:-)
punkinthefirst,
Feb 6, 10:44am
I don't think it is you, either. Iswear that vinegar has become of a lower strength over the last few years - it certainly tastes "flat"' My more scientific recipes state that pickles and chutneys should be made with vinegar that is at least 6% acetic acid - all our local vinegars are just 4%. So I had a word with my local pharmacist. To "beef up" vinegar, add 10 mls per litre of glacial acetic acid (from the chemist) for each percentage point you need to beef it up by. (Add 20 mls per litre to make 4% vinegar into 6%, for example). Be careful with the glacial acetic acid - the usual safety rules for handling chemicals apply. You may be able to reboil your chutney and add acetic acid to it and rebottle.
snapperheadrkp,
Feb 6, 5:20pm
Splash out and buy a DIGBY LAW'S PICKLES AND CHUTNEY BOOK for a host of interesting old recipes. (some are identical to recipes from Aunt Daisy) Also a lot of pickles and participially chutneys need keeping for quite a long time to mature, in fact Digby says "the longer the better"
lythande1,
Feb 6, 6:17pm
Taste other peoples, settle on one you like and use that recipe.
pickles7,
Feb 6, 6:22pm
The vinegar has not been very nice for a few years now. I make my own vinegars now. Like any brew it can be watered down at the fermenting process. Malt being the biggest cost of making malt vinegar would be the ingredient that would get cut down, more sugar and water added. The making of vinegar at home was shunned as many folk could not grasp the safest method to make it. I am well pleased with the vinegar I make and use it for everything you normally use vinegar in. I would not suggest anyone can and should make there own vinegar, however if you have made decent beer or wine, you should grasp the method to make your own vinegar. Sort of goes both ways, you won't be able to make vinegar if you cannot brew decent beer or wine.
cameron-albany,
Feb 6, 6:33pm
Hm interesting tips-thanks!I wonder if splashing out on some really *good* vinegar (i.e the expensively brewed or organic ones from the the likes of Nosh or Farro etc) might be worth it.I agree about vinegars - not sure if I want to make my own but certainly the "quality" seems to have reduced in the last few years.Given that it's such a key ingredient for pickles and chutneys it's no wonder things sometimes taste horrid. Cheers for the tips.
petal1955,
Feb 6, 7:06pm
TOMATO KASUNDI
6cm Piece of Ginger, peeled and chopped 4 large garlic cloves, peeled and chopped 2 long green chillies, deseeded and coarsely chopped ½ cup of vegetable oil 1 tbsp black mustard seeds Leaves stripped from 2 stems curry leaves 1 large onion, peeled and chopped 2 tbs ground cumin 1 tbs ground turmeric 1 tbs paprika 1 tbs mustard powder ½ cup (125ml) brown vinegar 1.5kg tomatoes washed and roughly chopped ¾ cup white sugar 1 tbs salt Place the ginger, garlic and chopped chilli into a mortar with a pestle until broken down to a thick paste.Alternatively place into a food processor and process until smooth.
Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat and add the mustard seeds.Fry for 1 minute or until they begin to pop and crackle.Stir in the curry leaves and cook a further minute. Add the chopped onion, stirring for 1 minute until it starts to soften.Add the paste and continue cooking until the onion has softened and the mixture is fragrant.
Stir in the dry spices and mustard powder, and cook a further 1-2 minutes making sure not to burn the spices.Add the remaining ingredients and mix well.
Bring to boil.Reduce the heat to low and simmer, stirring occasionally for 1½ hours or until thick and jammy.Spoon into sterilized jars and seal tightly.Cool, label and date the jars.
Keep the chutney in a cool dark place. The flavour improves with time so if you can store for about 1 month before using.Once opened it will keep in the fridge for up to 6 weeks
horizons_,
Feb 6, 8:11pm
All chutneys are sickly when first made. They need time for the flavours to blend and settle. You may just find that after a month yours tastes fine.
jduck1,
Feb 6, 8:51pm
Totally agree.
cloudberry,
Feb 6, 10:00pm
This is exactly my recommendation too. Buy a copy of Digby Law's excellent book. I am on to my second copy, I wore the original out.Though written in the 70s and 80s his recipes are sound, reliable and failproof.
davidt4,
Feb 6, 10:30pm
I've had excellent results from many of Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's chutney recipes - they are never very sweet and the flavours are good.His "Glutney" is an excellent all-purpose formula.The recipes are probably on his River Cottage web site
bernice1,
Feb 6, 11:12pm
There is a recipe for Brinjal Kasundi from Al Brown in the latest Dish magazine.It was also in a Cuisine a few years ago and is delicious (recipe is on their web site).I too struggle with excessively sweet preserves, so these days I add 1/3 the sugar the recipe asks for then taste and adjust from there.The worst seems to be tomato relish/ chutney recipes.
uli,
Feb 6, 11:15pm
Definitely the way to go!
uli,
Feb 6, 11:16pm
Here is my "never fail method" to avoid those pitfalls in future cameron-albany:
I ALWAYS halve the sugar or even use only a third. I also ALWAYS use stronger vinegar 5 or 6%.
When all is cooked it goes into the fridge for a day or two in its cooking pot and then comes out and gets tested. If its fine it gets heated up and bottled and if not then I add whatever I feel it needs.
punkinthefirst,
Feb 7, 12:59am
Uli, where do you get your stronger vinegar (other than beefing it up with acetic acid)! The NZ standard for vinegar in NZ is 4% - and I'd love to buy a brand that cares enough about its product to make it a bit stronger. Stronger vinegar is a factor in the pickle's crispness as well! I've even had email conversations with food technologists at Otago University on this topic.was very interesting I think consumers have to start a revolution!
uli,
Feb 7, 3:48am
I actually bought a 20l container of acetic acid 20 years ago, because I was sick of buying 5 l containers of water with a bit of acetic acid in it in the supermarket. I thought I could do that easily myself. I suppose it will last me lifetime :)
I make up 6% strength for pickling and for cleaning 10% (makes a nice fizz with baking soda).
I am not sure if you can buy it anymore - even in the pharmacy they have only very low percentages nowadays as people seem not be able to read instructions nowadays and are too careless - at least that is what the pharmacist told me when I enquired for a friend who wanted to make an old fashioned tomato sauce which needs acetic acid. I mixed her some of mine in the end.
punkinthefirst,
Feb 7, 7:53am
No, I've bought Glacial Acetic Acid recently, from my local chemist. Only 100 ml bottles are available, though. It's enough to beef up a 5 litre bottle of vinegar. Actually, looking at pickles' Vinegar thread, I might use some of my home-made wine to have a go at making wine vinegar. What have I got to lose! That Tomato sauce with the Glacial acetic acid (WDFF or Aunt Daisy cookbook) is a good recipe. Tell your friend to keep looking, because it is available
tehenga288,
Feb 7, 8:59am
Yes agree - they need time for the flavours to meld and develop
patsy3,
Feb 7, 9:09am
hey, I just bumped a soup recipe.is very sweet, so maybe look at the sugar content, and not do the rou. A great way to use excess toms.
minn1,
Feb 7, 4:22pm
agree with leaving it to meld.can remember when mum used to make pickles,it was standard pactice,to put them away ''until they are ready".Have always done that myself(cause thats what mum did, so that was right lol) and never had a problem.until yesterday ! I popped a dollop of chutney I had made the day before, on a sandwich, and thought "ewww, nah,I dont like THAT,it's not as nice as I'd thought it would be.".Hmmm.so that will teach me! So OP.what I'd do,is bottle it,-what have you got to lose!-and put it away for a few weeks,and see if you notice the difference.
pickles7,
Feb 7, 7:00pm
You shouldn't loose a thing.punkinthefirst.make- one bottle at a time. I set out to make vinegar out of wine, now I make wine to make vinegar. I hope I can buy some nice feijoas again this year, I have to say the feijoa vinegar I made is outstanding. I am keen to make another lot.The next lot of wine I am going to make is beetroot and banana, I am going to bottle a lot of beetroot so will be sure to scrub the beetroot well before cooking it, That combination makes a superb wine, and as the water [full of flavour]gets put down the sink I get satisfaction using it to make wine with. As I have started a wine making blog I will log the progress in there as soon asI get started.
makespacenow,
Feb 7, 9:33pm
OP, you can always reduce the amount of sugar right down to nothing, just use pectin stock or powder (I have posted recipe in the past or buy it in health/ fruit&veg stores).
uli,
Feb 7, 10:31pm
I will put up a $1 auction for you pickles once the feijoas start here - otherwise the pigs get half of them. Remind me in late March/early April in case I forget.
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