The bright sweetness and subtle heat of this peppadew chutney makes it the ideal condiment to top burgers, sandwiches, cold meats and cheese or deviled eggs. It’s also delicious blended into cream cheese for a fabulous veggie dip. Its addictive! A bottle of this chutney also makes for the perfect gift.
What sets peppadew peppers apart is their refreshing (thus the “dew” part of the name) and sweet taste that perfectly balances its spiciness.
Peppadews itself are best eaten only briefly cooked (think pizza), or eaten raw as part of an appetizer (stuffed with cream cheese), a salad…or made into this delicious peppadew chutney!
The peppadew success story
The story of the peppadew is as intriguing as its taste. Johan Steenkamp came across a chest-high bush of unidentified small round peppers in the garden of his Plettenberg Bay holiday house in 1993. The entrepreneur saved seeds from the ripened fruit of the mother plant and cultivated and processed them at his farm in Tzaneen, Limpopo, where Peppadew International‘s factory is still based today.
The peppers are often touted as the first new fruit to be introduced on the world market since the kiwi fruit, although scientific tests have shown that these little peppers are probably unregistered members of the habanero family rather than a new species.
Peppadew chutney
This homemade peppadew chutney is relatively simple to make. If you are just getting into making your own preserves, chutneys and pickles are probably easier to make than jam.
And if you’ve made chutney before, know that you’re going to love the flavours in this sweet and piquanté peppadew chutney. If you can’t get your hands on fresh peppadews, one could replace it with the store-bought bottled version.
Instead of speeding up the the process with a food processor, a handheld blender would also do the trick.
The chutney will improve with time, so let it stand for about two weeks for the flavours to “melt” together.
Chef’s tip
- To test if this peppadew chutney is ready simply pull a spoon through the mixture and it will leave a trail that does not immediately fill up with liquid.
Peppadew Chutney
Ingredients
- 8 cups peppadews fresh, whole, washed
- 200 ml sugar
- 200 ml grape white vinegar
- 2 tsp coarse salt
- 5-10 cloves garlic
- 1 large onion roughly chopped
Instructions
- Wash and deseed the peppadews (deseeding is optional).
- Sterilize two bottles as this recipe makes two 250ml bottles.
- Add all the ingredients to a food processor and process finely.
- Pour it all into a saucepan and bring to boil on medium heat while stirring.
- Reduce the heat and boil until the sauce is reduced by about a third. It must not be too runny or too dry. Taste if it needs more seasoning.
- Add to the sterilized bottles, close with the lid tightly while warm.
- Place in the refrigerator when cooled.
- The chutney will improve with time, about two weeks.
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