Starfruit Onion Chutney
It’s been a rough few months for me and my first weekly trip to the market on Saturday got me a great haul. Particularly, I love when I can find local fruits and think of ways to use them in my cooking and baking. This week’s star is the starfruit (lol I just had to do it) with this new fave, starfruit chutney.
Carambola, better known locally as starfruit is tart, with sweet notes and hints of citrus. It doesn’t quite belong anywhere and that’s what so great about it. Admittedly I’ve classed starfruit with mangoes…why do anything else with them but eat them or make juice? However since I’m challenging my perception of these local treasure troves, be prepared to see a few posts exploring them in uncommon formats.
I wanted to work on a starfruit chutney first because chutneys are versatile in their applications. The starfruit’s mildly sweet flavour lends well to dampening the pungency of the onion. I chose balsamic because it is great with onion and also can develop the tartness of the fruit. Cinnamon enhances the flavour profile, while ensuring that the final product leans more to the fruity side of this pairing.
You can add this chutney to meats such as pork, turkey and chicken. You may also try with soft cheeses such as goat cheese and creamy cheeses. Or you can do like me, eat it by the spoon! What other tropical fruits do you think would be great for chutneys?
Ingredients
- 3 large starfruits, diced
- 3/8 cup brown sugar
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 1/2 scotch bonnet pepper, finely diced without the seeds (you can adjust for your heat preference)
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
- 1 cup water
- Special equipment
- 8 oz glass jar
Instructions
Add the starfruit to a bowl, and sprinkle sugar. Let stand for at least five minutes.
Heat a pan with oil.
Add onion and peppers to the oil, and stir gently for two minutes.
In a separate deep bottom pot, put water to boil to sterilize glass jar.
Reduce heat to low, and add starfruit with juices.
Add the remaining sugar, cinnamon and balsamic vinegar. Stir gently and then add cup of water.
Simmer for 15 minutes.
Once cooked, scoop the contents into the glass jar and seal.
Store for three months in the fridge once opened.
