Now That I've Gleaned..Making Kashmiri Apple Chutney!

   After my wonderful adventure in gleaning, (I hear figs might be next hope hope!) I was left with a large packing box of apples that were just begging to be turned into something. I knew time was of the essence as I didn't want the fruit to go bad while I made up my mind. What would be the use of doing all that foraging and saving of food if I were then to let it go to rot on my kitchen counter.
   As soon as I heard I was going to get a whole lot of apples I decided to make an apple chutney. Some of the best apples to be found are grown in the Kashmir region, and so I turned to that area for a recipe.
  The apple pictures above and below are actually just the tip of the iceberg of my apple stash.

    I churned out 8 pints of apple chutney yesterday and I'm not done yet. However, don't worry about stumbling across the Big Box Store version of chutney recipes. This one has been whittled down for you so that all you need is 1 pound of apples and you'll get 3 pints of chutney.
    I've also adapted this recipe so that it can easily be made with ingredients at hand:

Kashmiri Apple Chutney

  First step is peeling, coring and chopping 1 pound of apples.

   Next, peel and chop 1 pound of onions.

   Then weigh them after peeling and chopping and make sure you have a pound each.
    Put the apples and the onions in a pot or pan along with :
 3/4 cup of golden raisins
 2 tsp of kosher salt
  1 and 1/2 cups of sugar

 Add in:
2 and 1/2 cups of malt vinegar. (uh, small confession here. I used part malt vinegar and part apple cider vinegar mainly because I ran out of malt vinegar since I was vastly enlarging this recipe as I had so many freaking apples!)

  1/4 tsp of Kashmiri chili or 1/4 tsp of cayenne

  1/4 tsp of ground cumin
  1/4 tsp of ground ginger

  1 tsp of mustard seeds
  1/4 tsp of dry mustard

     Mix all of this together, and heat it up so that the sugar dissolves, then bring it all to a boil and dial it back a notch so that it just simmers for about 30 minutes. Give it a stir every once in a while so that nothing sticks.

   When the apples and onions are nice and tender and everything is well blended stir in:
   1 Tbs of tomato paste
   Cook it for a little bit longer, about 8 minutes or so until it has thickened nicely.
     Ok, a little note here about chutney making. Taste as you go. This is important as I find that chutney is a matter of personal preference. This chutney has more of a tart flavor from the vinegar and and onion. In fact it almost reminds me of a Memphis style barbecue sauce, what with the mustard undertones. So, don't be afraid to add more sugar if you feel it needs it. If you do however, add brown sugar, not white, as the deeper flavor is what you're after with this chutney.
  When the chutney is to your liking, put it into clean washed canning jars. Follow the directions for preparing them. Then fill the jars, seal them and process them in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes.
  This will give you about 3 pints of Apple Chutney. As you can see from the large container of apples in the background I have a whole lot more canning to do.

Vote For Me:
      As you may know, I'm entered in the Project Foodbuzz Foodblogger of The Year Competition.
     So what exactly is this Project Foodbuzz Contest and why do I want it so badly???
     Project Food Blog is the first-ever interactive competition where thousands of Foodbuzz Featured    Publishers are competing in a series of culinary blogging challenges for the chance to advance and a  shot at the ultimate prize: $10,000 and a special feature on Foodbuzz.com for one year
     Voting is now open and I'm trying to make the cut to the next round. Please register to vote on Foodbuzz.com (it's free and easy!) or if you're already a member, do me a solid, give me a vote and help me get to the next round.
Here's my entry for Challenge #1 Where I'm supposed to tell you a bit about what makes me tick.
Project Foodbuzz Challenge #1 Cooking My Way To India
   Thanks so much to everyone for all your encouragement and support!