In Kolkata there is a restaurant called Kasturi that has no menu. The chef there cooks some of the best food I’ve had, and always serves this pineapple and ginger chutney to boot. It really does go with anything – I’ve eaten it with fish, meat and dosas, and it makes a wonderful sandwich filling with Cheddar, ham or fish.
Ingredients
- 1 medium ripe pineapple
- 2 tablespoons rapeseed oil
- 3 teaspoons black mustard seeds
- 3 cm ginger, peeled and grated
- ¾ teaspoon chilli powder
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1¼ level teaspoons salt
- 125 g sugar
- 2 limes juice
How to Make It
- Cut off the top and the base of your pineapple and discard, then stand the pineapple upright and cut away the skin from top to bottom. If there are ‘eyes’ still left in the sides, gouge them out with the tip of a knife. Now cut the flesh of the pineapple away from the round fibrous core in the middle, then dice up the flesh.
- Put the oil into a large non-stick frying pan over a medium heat. When hot, add the mustard seeds, and when the seeds start to pop, add the ginger, chilli powder, black pepper, salt and diced pineapple. Mix well and cook for around 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Add the sugar and lime juice and cook for a further 15 to 20 minutes, until the pineapple looks translucent and soft and all the liquid has reduced and looks a bit like jam.
- Taste and adjust the salt, sugar or lime as you wish, then transfer into a scrupulously clean jar. This chutney will keep for at least a couple of weeks in the fridge.