Watermelon Rind Chutney
I love watermelon, and so I've been eating a ton of it this summer. This means I have a lot of rinds left over, so I thought I'd do something with some of them. I also like chutneys. This was the result. I usually just improvise chutneys, but since this one turned out well, I thought I'd write it down. It isn't the prettiest chutney I've ever seen, but the photo does give a good idea of what it looks like when it's done.
We've been eating this gingery chutney with grilled sausages. I think it'd go rather well as an accompaniment to cheeses (esp a hard goat's cheese). As with most chutneys, this gets better as it sits a while so the flavors mingle.
Watermelon Rind Chutney
Recipe makes one large jarful. You may want to double it (or triple, or quadruple.....)
Ingredients
Rind from 1/4 of a medium (~8kg) organic watermelon
1 medium garlic clove, minced
walnut-sized piece of fresh ginger, peeled and julienned
1/2 tsp ground ginger
~5 green cardamom pods
1 tsp black peppercorns
1 stalk lemongrass, tied in a knot
2 dried red chilies, broken into pieces OR 1 whole fresh green chili, minced (optional -- amount listed will make this rather hot)
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups cider vinegar
1 1/2 cups water
Preparation
Peel the dark green skin from the watermelon rind. Cut the watermelon rind into small dice.
Place all ingredients into a pot. Bring to the boil on medium-high, stirring occasionally. Simmer on medium-low until rind is translucent and somewhat tender, and liquid becomes a little syrupy.
Put into a large sterilized jar. Seal as normal.