Feijoa Chutney

This recipe calls for rather a lot of vinegar, but bare in mind, most chutneys aren't great straight away and get better with age! Vinegar is needed to act as a preservative and increase shelf life. Just pop your jars in the cupboard and wait a couple of weeks before enjoying.

(Growing up, we used to open up chutneys that had been made 2 years prior. They still always tasted epic!)

• 1kg feijoas (skin on, chopped)
• 500g apples (peeled and chopped)
• 400g onions (finely sliced)
• 1 cup raisins
• 1 or 2 fresh chillies (chopped finely)
• 500ml malt vinegar
• 600g brown sugar
• 1 tbsp salt
• 1 tbsp ground ginger
• 2 tbsp allspice
• 2 cloves of garlic, crushed
• finely grated zest of 1 lemon or lime
• 1/2 tsp mustard seeds
• ½ tsp ground cloves

1. Place all ingredients in large pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally towards the end, until mixture is thick and brown. This can take up to 3 hours. The cooking time will vary depending on the juiciness of your feijoas and the size of your pot.
2. While it's cooking, turn your oven to 100c. Wash your jars and place on a baking sheet in the oven to sterilise them. Once hot, turn off oven and them cool slightly. However, they should still be warm when you fill them with the chutney.
3. Keeps for months. Refrigerate once open.
4. Feijoa sweetness will vary from crop to crop. Make sure you taste your chutney about an hour after cooking, and adjust the flavour balance to suit your taste.