Spicy Tomato Relish

 A fellow foodie and much appreciated "taste tester" of my culinary creations just got back from a week long road trip.  Starting in Western Australia she and a friend, drove across the Nullarbor desert, through South Australia, and back to Victoria.  Traversing three states in a single week is quite an accomplishment especially if there were gastronomic adventures to be had.     

A short distance from the South Australian capital city, Adelaide, lies a quaint little town called Hahndorf.  I have visited here a couple of times and if it weren't a day's drive away I would make it a regular outing.  The town is a gourmet feast with plenty of providores and local produce available on Main Street to make you want to set up camp and stick around longer than you had planned.  There's just so much good food and drink to try there!  On returning to work yesterday, amidst telling me of her adventures, my traveling foodie friend mentioned that she stopped in Hahndorf, and as I expected - she loved it!  She brought in some a tomato relish that tasted sensational - unlike the regular commercial stuff, this one had a fresh kick to it and really brightened up my roast pork sandwich.  Unfortunately I only got to sample a spoonful, since she had found it so good and left me rations.  I scraped the bottle clean and enjoyed my lunch, nevertheless.  

Seeing the empty bottle on my desk in the afternoon set off a bright light in my head - a spark of inspiration.  Since I still had plenty of ripe tomatoes from my veggie garden sitting at home, it seemed like the perfect excuse to try my hand at my first relish.  The ingredients were listed on the bottle, so I couldn't go too wrong for a beginner, I would just tweak it a little to my liking.  Besides, it would be just like making jam - except with a lot of spices and chillies - well here goes!

Ingredients, makes about 250 grams of relish

500g x Tomatoes, medium to large sized ones

1 tbsp x Olive Oil

1 tsp x Black Mustard Seeds

1 tsp x Cumin Seeds

½ tsp x Turmeric Powder

½ tsp x Cumin Powder

1 tsp x Coriander Powder

1 tsp x Garlic Powder

1 tsp x Ginger Powder

2 x Fresh Red Chillies, chopped finely

2 tsp x Brown Sugar

1 tbsp x Red Wine Vinegar

1 tbsp x Oyster Sauce

Lemon Juice, to taste

Directions

Prepare the tomatoes by scoring them in quarters

Place them in a large bowl and pour boiling water to cover the tomatoes

After 10-15 minutes, using a paring knife, peel the tomatoes and chop them roughly

Place a heavy saucepan on the hob and heat the olive oil

Add the cumin and mustard seeds and stir for a minute or until the start to pop

Now add all the other dry spices and stir for 30 seconds until they are fragrant

Tip in the peeled and chopped tomatoes and chillies and bring to the boil

Stir in the brown sugar and red wine vinegar, cook for two minutes

Now add the oyster sauce and check the seasoning

Reduce heat to the lowest setting and cook for 30 minutes

Keep stirring frequently to avoid the mixture burning

Squeeze in some fresh lemon juice and remove from the heat

Transfer relish to a jar and allow to cool before sealing the lid

By the way, that's the same bottle that the Hahdorf Relish came in - "Reusing is far better than Recycling" 

"This relish went really well with my Angus Beef mince patties for dinner, I almost scraped the bottle clean again, but stopped myself as I will have to take some in to work tomorrow for a taste test."