Aunt Daisy’s beetroot chutney recipe

Aunt Daisy was a radio icon in the 1950s in New Zealand.  She always started her radio broadcasts with a very cheery, “Good Morning everybody,  Good Morning, everybody” and often went on to discuss the weather that day.

You can hear one of her sessions in 1950 here giving her recipe for beetroot chutney  or use the written version. (Note we have changed the amounts to metric measures)

Ingredients

2 kg beetroot (to make 1.5kg cooked chopped beetroot)
500 mls water
2 tablespoons salt
500 gms mixed dried fruit (buy a packet or make your own mixture of sultanas, currants, raisins, chopped dates, chopped dried apricots)
250 gms onions
2 cups malt vinegar
250 gms sugar
1 tablespoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon ground allspice or nutmeg

Method

1. Trim the leaves  and wash the  beetroot
2. Put the water and first measure of salt into a saucepan and add the beetroot
3. Cook whole beetroot until tender ( 20 -40 mins depending on size)
4. Pour cold water over the cooked beetroot and rub with fingers until skin comes off
5. Weigh cooked, skinned beetroot so you have 1.5kg
6. Put vinegar, sugar, 1 tbsp salt, pepper and allspice in a saucepan
7. Add chopped dried fruit and onions
8. Boil until the onions are soft and the mixture begins to thicken
9. Add 1.5kg cooked chopped beetroot
10. Boil gently for 15 minutes
11. Take off the heat and pour into clean hot jars
12. To prepare jars go to the  post on preparing jars for storing preserves

Makes up to 10 x 300gm jars.