METHOD:

Baking the beetroot during the first stage of making the chutney, instead of boiling it, intensifies the flavour. Well worth the extra effort to individually wrap each beetroot in foil and bake them.

1. Wash the beetroot to remove any excess dirt and remove the leaves from the base. 

   
   

2. Wrap each beetroot individually in cooking foil, place in a baking tray and bake, approximately 40 minutes in the moderate oven until cooked. They should be easily pierced by a cake skewer. Cooking time will depend upon the size of the roots.

   Remove from the oven and allow to cool.

3. Unwrap. Wearing disposable food grade gloves  (to prevent your hands from discolouring),  gently rub the skin off with your hands. Discard the skin.

   Grate the beetroot on the medium box grater  setting and place in a medium-large preserving pan.

4. Peel, quarter and core the apples. Grate on the medium setting and place in the pan with the beetroot. 

   Add the chopped onion, vinegar, sugar, salt, ground ginger, clove, allspice, cinnamon and the lemon and orange juice and zest .

5. Bring to boil, stirring occasionally, until the sugar has dissolved. 

   Reduce and simmer, stirring occasionally to prevent chutney from sticking on the bottom of the pan, for approximately 1- 1 ½ hrs. The chutney is cooked when the beetroot, apple and onion are soft, mixture has thickened slightly to a spoonable consistency. 

6. Remove from heat and place on a heat resistant board.

   Using a funnel, pour into warm dry sterilised screw cap sealable jars. Fill to approximately 2.5cm (1inch) from the top and seal immediately while the jars and mixture is still hot.

7. Label and store in a cool dark place in the kitchen or pantry.

   Store in the fridge after opening. 

NOTES:

• Always thoroughly wash the beetroot to remove any garden debris or soil before preparing.
• Wrapping the beetroot in cooking foil and baking it in the oven until it is soft greatly enhances the flavour compared to boiling it.  When  beetroot is cut and boiled it leaches flavour and colour into the water, which is then discarded.
• Once the beetroot is cooked, it is easy to peel while hot/warm. Wearing food grade disposable gloves for this step will protect your hands from the heat and discolouration from the beetroot. 
• Do not use  old, overripe and never use mouldy beetroot as this will produce a poor-quality chutney.
• The cooking time is an approximation only as the time will depend upon, the size of preserving pan, the moisture content of the beetroot and  degree of heat when cooking. Simmer the chutney gently to reduce the amount of evaporation.  
• Towards the end of the cooking process, it may be necessary to stir regularly. It is important that the fruit does not stick to the bottom of the pan and burn. Your chutney will be tainted with a burnt flavour which is unpleasant. 
• The type and colour of the sugar and vinegar used will affect the final colour and flavour of the chutney. Malt vinegar and brown sugar will produce very dark brownish red chutney with a more earthy/molasses background flavour, while white wine vinegar or apple cider and white sugar will produce chutney that has a fresher and brighter beetroot flavour.  This is a matter of personal choice. 
• To test the chutney is cooked to the right consistency, spoon a little of the mixture on to a plate. The chutney should hold its shape.