Make your own spicy cucumber relish

We do not like wasting food, especially food from crops that we have tendered from seed to maturity, so here is a recipe to use for cucumbers that hide themselves in the cucumber patch and get overlooked, start to toughen and go to seed. Our recipe is hot but you can leave out the chilli flakes if your taste buds prefer a milder flavour.

Alternatively, you could leave them to ripen well beyond the edible stage and keep them for seeds by using the following link  http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g? blogID=5924564628460841604#editor/target=post;postID=4078000423619890122;onPublishedMenu=posts;onClosedMenu=posts;postNum=8;src=postname

To make 4 jars of spicy cucumber relish you will need the following ingredients:

500g of finely chopped onions

500g of peeled cucumber cut into small chunks (remove the seeds if they have toughed)

1 medium cooking apple cored and cut into small chunks

325ml of apple vinegar

250g of sugar

1 teaspoon of chilli flakes

1 teaspoon of salt, pepper, mustard powder, turmeric and allspice

Place the onions, cucumber and apple in a preserving pan with the apple vinegar. Bring to the boil, whilst stirring occasionally, and simmer for 25 minutes.

Add the sugar and stir until it fully dissolves and then add the chilli flakes and rest of the ingredients. Cook on a low heat for 40-45 minutes until the relish thickens but remember to stir occasionally to ensure the mixture does not stick to the bottom of the pan and burn.

Once cooked, pour into pre-sterilised jars whilst still hot and seal. Once cooled completely clean any residue from the jars and store in a cool, dark place for up to a year unopened. Once opened store in the fridge. 

The relish has many uses, we use it in sandwiches, with homemade burgers or add it to pasta or potato salad.