Moroccan Tomato Chili Chutney

When I go travelling, I love to take cooking classes. When I went to Morocco, I took a lovely private cooking class in Marrakesh, with the chef from a near riad. We made a sampling of traditional Moroccan mezes (tomato jam, stuffed zucchini and zaalouk), two entrees (apricot and lamb tagine and chicken bastilla) and milk bastilla for dessert (photos from Casa and Marrakesh here, from the desert and Fes/Meknes).

We toured around Morocco, and when we arrived in Fes, it was rainy. Since most of our activities were outdoors, I contemplated doing yet another cooking class at a local restaurant. Instead, we opted to eat lunch there and I bought their cookbook, Clock Book, to take home.

A few months later, I went vegan. You wouldn’t think it, but Morocco was quite meat-heavy.  With so many flavourful vegetarian options on the web, you’d think they would be easy to find in Morocco. Not so.

Of the dishes from the cooking class, the mezes were vegan-friendly. I can’t seem to remember where I put my recipe for tomato jam, but it is unlike any jam you might think you know. Slowly simmered tomatoes are infused with cinnamon, sweetener and topped with sesame seeds.

However, this leads me to this month’s Random Recipe which was to randomly pick a tea time treat. I have a few cookbooks, but none with a section for tea treats, so I randomly flipped through cookbooks until I found a tea-appropriate treat. That’s when I pulled out Clock Book and it fell open to this Tomato and Chili Chutney, very reminiscent of tomato jam, although definitely more of a chutney with the vinegar. The cookbook paired it with fried crispy squid but like tomato jam, I figured it would be nice with a simple bread or cracker. I am a sucker for cinnamon, and paired with tomato and a sharp vinegary bite with a touch of heat from the red chiles, this was a unique chutney.

While I halved the recipe, it still made a lot (around 2 cups), so we will see how it combines with Indian snacks, too.

This is my submission to this week’s Weekend Wellness, to Eat, Make, Grow and to Random Recipes and Tea Time Treats.

Moroccan Tomato Chili Chutney
Adapted from Clock Book

8 ripe Roma tomatoes, diced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 hot red chilies (mine were dried, and I deseeded them)
1 cinnamon sticks
2.5 tbsp sugar
150 mL red wine vinegar

1. In a medium saucepan, combine all ingredients.

2. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 45 minutes. Mash tomatoes into a chutney consistency if they haven’t wilted down yet.

3. Enjoy right away, or store in the fridge for 2 weeks.

Makes a scanty 2 cups.