Spicy Green Bean Relish
00h 30
00h 35This lightly spiced relish is such a good way to preserve an abundance of homegrown beans - either French varieties or long green runners. It is great to tuck into and is particularly delicious with cold poultry, ham, cheese and is excellent with burgers, hot dogs and BBQ foods.
Ingredients and Method
Ingredients
- 500g White or yellow onions
- 750g Runner or other green beans
- 500ml Aspall cyder or white wine vinegar
- 4 Fat cloves of garlic, peeled and finely sliced
- 1-2 tbsp Medium curry powder
- 1 tsp Turmeric powder
- 1 tbsp Yellow mustard seeds
- 2 tbsp Corn flour
- 1 tsp Celery salt
- 3-4 tbsp Tomato puree
- 250g Golden granulated sugar
Method
- Peel the onions, halve, quarter and slice thinly. Put the onions into a saucepan with the vinegar. Cover, and bring to simmering point for about 10-15 minutes until soft. A couple of minutes before the end of cooking add the garlic slices. Remove from the heat.
- Meanwhile top and tail the beans and remove any stringy fibres from the sides. Slice diagonally into approximately 1-1.5cm pieces.
- Plunge the beans into a pan of salted boiling water and cook until just about tender — this will depend on the type and the age of the beans; young beans will take barely 5 minutes whilst older runner beans may take 15 minutes or so. Drain, reserving 250ml of the cooking water. Return the beans to the pan with the reserved water.
- Add the onions, garlic and vinegar mix to beans.
- Mix together the curry powder, turmeric, mustard seeds, cornflour, celery salt and the tomato puree with 50ml water to a thick paste.
- Return the pan to a medium heat, add the sugar and keep stirring until it has dissolved before adding the spice paste. Bring to simmering point for 5 minutes or so to allow the cornflour to thicken the mixture and the spices to cook.
- Spoon the chutney into sterilised jars filling to within 5mm of the brim and tapping them gently on the work surface as you fill to remove any pockets of air. Seal immediately. See below for finishing.
- Store in a cool, dark dry cupboard and use within one year. Keep in the fridge once opened.
