Victorian Tomato Relish

This is the tomato relish that we used to have when we were kids. It was magic then and it's magic today. Mum made it. So did both my grandmothers, and probably half the cooks in Victoria, Australia, but I had never been able to find the recipe - until recently - and I had cooked and tested just about every relish variant imaginable. The version we had when we were young had less "heat" from spices than my version, but the hotter it is the more sensational it tastes, while still keeping the original magic. It looks as if its complicated to make. It's not. It virtually makes itself. If you have one of those small vegetable choppers (rotary-type) that you bought when it impressed you at a home show and have never used since - drag it out for this as the chopping is really the only thing that takes any real effort.

• Ready In: 26 hrs
• Yields: 8 small jars

Ingredients

• 24  tomatoes
• 8  onions
• 3 -4  lebanese cucumbers (or one large burpless cucumber, or a couple of ordinary cucumbers, but, because you need to use the)
• 1 1⁄2 ounces salt
• 2  lbs sugar (white, brown or half white or half brown)
• 0.5 (1687 ml) bottle malt vinegar or 0.5 (1687 ml) bottle white distilled vinegar
• 3  tablespoons mustard
• 3  teaspoons cayenne pepper
• 6  tablespoons flour (for thickening)
• 3  tablespoons curry powder (use Clive of India if available)

Directions

1. Cut up the unskinned tomatoes, onions, and unpeeled cucumbers.
2. Sprinkle with all the salt, stir it through, and leave overnight to draw out the liquid.
3. Strain off liquid- as much as you can.
4. Add sugar and vinegar.
5. Boil till tender then add mustard and cayenne pepper (you can vary this according to taste).
6. Mix flour and curry powder with extra vinegar and add to cooked tomatoes to thicken.
7. Bottle in sterilized jars.
8. Cover when cold.
9. Can be used immediately and also keeps really well.