Apricot-Lemon Chutney
De Arbol (Capsicum Annuum) means tree like in Spanish. The plant has thick, upright, woody stems and the chile itself is narrow, curved and bright red in color. Believed to be closely related to the pequin, the De Arbol is thin fleshed, with tannic, smoky, grassy flavor and searing heat. This chile has a heat range of 7.5 on the heat scale of 1-10. De Arbol Chiles are comparable to a Cayenne Pepper. Scoville heat units 15,000 to 30,000.
Suggested Use:
De Arbol is a hot chile and a staple in Southwest kitchens. Add some heat to your next salsa or Mexican dish. Be adventurous and add them to your next stew or chili along with the other spices Add some heat to your next salsa or Mexican dish.
Ingredients:
1 lemon
1 cup dried apricots
1/2 cup sugar
1 Tbsp. minced fresh ginger
1 Tbsp. coriander seed
1 Tbsp. mustard seed
1/2 tsp. crushed chile de arbol
salt
1 to 2 Tbsp. lemon juice
Instructions:
Rinse the lemon, then with a vegetable peeler, pare the yellow skin from the lemon and finely chop. With a knife, cut off and discard the white pith. Coarsely chop the lemon, discarding the seeds. In a 1- to 2-quart pan over high heat, bring to a boil 1 cup of water, the lemon peel, chopped lemon (with juice), dried apricots, sugar, minced fresh ginger, coriander seed, mustard seed, and hot crushe chile. Reduce the heat, cover, and simmer for 5 minutes. Uncover and boil over medium heat, stirring often, until most of the liquid is absorbed, about 10-12 minutes. Add the salt and lemon juice, to taste and cool. Serve or cover and chill for up to 3 days.
Yields 1-1/2 cups.
Recipe from Sunset Magazine, March 2000.