Chutneys 2 Beetroot

 WINTERSPICE BEETROOT CHUTNEY

Giving amounts for two different size batches.

Beetroot, scrubbed, topped and tailed then diced (1 cm) no need to peel. 1.5 or 2 kg

Onion, chopped.  3 or 4

Apple,any sort, grated . 3 small or 3 medium eaters, or 1 very large or 2 medium cookers.

Ginger, fresh,diced very small.  30 g or 50g

Mustard seeds.  2 tsp  or 3 tsp

Coriander seeds.  1 tbsp or 1 rounded tbsp

Ground cloves         ditto.             ditto

Ground cinnamon.  ditto.             ditto

Cider vinegar.            700ml.   or 1 litre 

Golden granulated sugar.    700g or 1 kg.

Zest and juice of  4 or 6 limes or 2 or 3 oranges.

The recipe says to put it all in the pan....but last time I put everything but the sugar in until the beetroot was almost ready, to avoid the risk of sticking and burning the pan!

So, all except the sugar in a large preserving (Maslin ) pan, bring to the boil, and simmer stirring occasionally until the beetroot is almost ready, then add the sugar and raise the heat a little until all cooked and reduced and not quite sticking (!) Which it has a tendency to.....

Take off the heat and rest for 5 minutes before potting in HOT jars , using wax circles and wax as before before adding screwtop lids.

If I know that this will be kept for a while, as an additional step to prevent the preserve drying out I put insulation tape around the lid to keep out air and moisture.

I melt candlewax by the waterbath method, wax in a glass jar, placed in a small pan of hot water on the heat.  I keep a screwtopjar especially for the wax then it is to hand and no fuss.

When I came to make the latest batch I was short on beetroot, so added diced apple. Any variety will do, but better one that keeps it shape when cooked.

This definitely improves on keeping!