Fiery Tomato chutney with hot Green Chillies, Dates and Ginger/Garlic

I like to call this my No 1 Recipe Tomato chutney because it’s a chutney I made because I wanted to use up a lot of the ingredients I had in my fridge which would have gone off if I didn’t use them up. Well our grandmother’s managed to cook without recipes so why shouldn’t we? I only used ingredients I had in the cupboard and have kept the recipe simple.

Ingredients:

600 grams of tomatoes ( I used a new yellow colour variety of tomatoes but you can use any tomatoes)
10-12 very hot green chilies (you can use less or even swap them for sweet thai peppers)
2 tsps minced garlic
2 tsps minced ginger
1 tsp salt
7-8 dates seeded and soaked for 20 minutes
3-4 tsp lemon juice
1 tbl Virgin Olive OIl

Method:

1. Wash and slice the tomatoes and transfer them to a non reactive bowl or saucepan. Allow these to cook on a medium heat until they soften. Don’t add any water t the tomatoes.

2. Slice the chilies and add them to the tomatoes. Add the salt, ginger, garlic, dates and lemon juice. Cook for about 10 minutes and allow to cool for 10 minutes.

3. Using a hand blender, blend the mixture until nice and smooth. Add the Olive oil and allow this mixture to simmer on a low heat until it is nice and thick. The Olive oil helps to keep the tomato chutney from discolouring. Allow the chutney to cool slightly before bottling it in a sterilised bottle. This with my home made jams will make a perfect addition to my Christmas gifts hamper.