It’s been a bountiful fig season this year. After eating them freshly picked for breakfast, lunch and dinner, having them in salads and tarts, I decided to use the last ones on the fig tree to make a chutney.

A chutney by definition is a condiment that consists in a reduction of fruit, vinegar and sugar. For this one, along the figs I used red onions and raisins as the “fruit base” and a mix of ginger, lemon zest, cinnamon, cloves and peppercorns for extra flavour.

I’ve been eating this chutney with Ayurvedic kind of food, like red lentil daal, kitchari, vegetable curry or with plain basmati rice and steamed vegetable. You can also have it on a piece of toast, with cheese or meat.

Fig Chutney

1 tbsp olive oil
1 medium red onion, peeled and thinly sliced
1 tbsp ginger, peeled and finely diced
1/3 cup aplle cider vinegar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup raisins
Juice and zest of a lemon
1 cinnamon stick
2 tsp mustard seeds
1/4 tsp peppercorns
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp ground cloves
500gr fresh figs, stemmed and diced

In a medium saucepan, heat the olive oil and cook the onion until very soft. Add the remaining ingredients except the figs and cook for 10-15 minutes. Add the figs and cook for 30 minutes. To reach the desired consistency use the hand blender to process the mixture (I prefer this than to cook it longer), leaving some chunks for texture. Pour the chutney into sterilized jars and cover with lid while still hot.

Makes 2 cups