I usually prefer to eat my figs as fresh as possible, hand-picked straight from the tree, or chopped up into salads, or sliced on a cheese sandwich. At times, it happens that I’ve picked, or was gifted, too many figs… Oh. Wait. There’s no such thing as too many figs!
When one happens to have a large quantity of figs that at some point start to lose a bit of their plump freshness and turn a bit wrinkly a perfectly squishy, sticky and sweet – exactly how I like them the best – you should definitely make this sweet and spicy spiced fig chutney!
This sweet and slightly tangy fresh fig chutney is a perfect addition to cheese and crackers, charcuterie boards, white meat such as chicken and turkey, or sandwiches. The chutney is flavored with warming spices such as cinnamon, cloves, and ginger, but it’s also got a little bit of fresh chili pepper in there for a little bit of extra heat for the coming autumn and winter months!
Spicy Spiced Fresh Fig Chutney
- V
- VG
- GF
- DF
Nutrition per portion
Ingredients
- 500g fresh figs (preferably very ripe and a bit squishy)
- 1 tablespoon sunflower-, or olive oil
- 1 medium red onion, finely minced
- 1 fresh red chili pepper, minced (or less according to taste)
- 1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon mustard seeds
- 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
- Pinch of ground cloves
- Pinch of salt
- 100g dark brown sugar
- 120ml apple cider vinegar
- Juice and zest of half a lemon
Method
- Sweat the onion: Heat the tablespoon of oil in a medium sized saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the finely minced onion and cook until soft and translucent for about 5 minutes.
- Add the aromatics: Add the minced fresh chili pepper, grated fresh ginger, ground cinnamon, mustard seeds, black pepper, a pinch of ground cloves, and a pinch of salt to the saucepan with the onions. Sauté until fragrant for about 2 minutes.
- Add the sugar, vinegar and lemon juice and zest. Stir until sugar has dissolved. Reduce heat to low and let the mixture simmer softly for about 5 minutes.
- In the meantime, cut the stems off the figs and roughly dice them.
- Add the figs: When your spice and vinegar mixture has simmered, add the diced figs and bring back to a simmer.
- Simmer chutney on low heat for another 35 - 40 minutes, stirring frequently, until the mixture thickens and becomes jammy and sticky. Take off the heat and let the chutney cool down slightly.
- Transfer chutney to a jar and let it cool down completely.
Made this with my first batch of figs this morning, wish I’d made a double batch. I added some tomatoes, as I felt it needed a bit of something extra. Also I added coriander seeds and toasted the spices before crushing them. Plus extra chilli. Gonna whip up another batch tomorrow. Thanks for the recipe.
Thank you for trying the recipe! I am glad to hear you liked it.
The addition of tomatoes, extra chili and coriander seeds sound delicious. I will try it out next time I make this chutney.
Thanks for the lovely comment.
Just making this chutney looks and smells amazing I live in france in the vienne region fig tree down the road is laden and all ripe so looking forward to this added a couple of extra chillies as well thank you for the recipee Simon
Thank you for trying this recipe! I hope you enjoyed it. (adding extra chillies is always nice!)