Fermented Apple Chutney - easy and delicious!

chut·ney

ˈCHətnē/

noun

noun: chutney; plural noun: chutneys

1. a spicy condiment made of fruits or vegetables with vinegar, spices, and sugar, originating in India.

My sweet sister-in-law introduced me to "chutney" many years ago.  It makes a wonderful accompaniment to a meal... freshens up the palate and I love chutneys!

Recently, I've started making fermented fresh chutney and it's spectacular!  No need to cook or process in a canner.  Just chop it up, mix with the other ingredients, pack it into a FIDO JAR, close the lid, let it sit on the counter for 3 days, turning over once in a while to distribute the liquid, and then refrigerate it!  It will stay nice for many weeks in the fridge.  Being fermented, it is rich in healthy probiotics, and also your body will love the easily assimilated vitamins and minerals.  

Meet the magical FIDO JAR !!!

I bought mine yesterday at TJ Maxx in a nearby city for only $4.99 !  They are available on Amazon.com, but cost twice as much (and would be worth it).  You don't have to use a Fido.  You can use a regular canning jar with a lid, but then you need to open it sightly from time to time so it will let out the pressure of the gasses produced.  With the Fido, you fill it, close it, and forget it.  The rubber seal is very tight, but it will sort of burp slightly on its own.

Fermented Apple Chutney

1. In a large measuring vessel or a bowl, combine:

    1 handful walnut meats, broken in pieces

    1 handful raisins

    Enough apples, chopped into bite-sized pieces to make the contents of your bowl measure 1.5 liter. Do 

    not peel the apples, just remove the cores and the little blossom ends and where the stem was.

    1/3 cup honey

    1/3 cup whey (explained below)

    3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

    1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt

2. Stir all of that thoroughly and then pack it into a Fido Jar.  

3. Close the lid.  Leave it on the kitchen counter for 3 days, turning it over to let the liquid flow through the 

    contents once in a while

4. Store in the refrigerator - it will keep for many weeks.

Here are some pictures of the process:

Voila!

A note about apples... My mother grew up during the Great Depression.  She never wasted anything if she could possibly avoid it. When she ate an apple, she would wash it, pull off the stem and then just eat the apple.  She did not throw away the core.  I do the same thing.  If you want to try that, don't eat around it and make a core first.  Just eat the apple.  Apple seeds contain laetrile, which many believe has anti-cancer properties.  As I was making this, I ate all of the little core pieces I cut out!  I do like them.  Bite into the seeds.  They taste good (at least to me.)

It is a good idea to eat a small amount of something live and fermented with each meal.  I drink about 2 ounces of milk kefir with breakfast, and have a couple of Tablespoons of live sauerkraut or this chutney with lunch and supper.  The probiotics in the ferments really help your digestion be healthier. Also, they contain live digestive enzymes.

The recipe calls for "whey".  I use whey that I strain from my milk kefir when I make kefir cheese.  You may also use whey you can gather the same way from plain yogurt that has live cultures. 

This chutney is sweet and crunchy and a little zingy!  You will like it.  I promise.  :)