Feijoa kasundi (from Feijoabulous)

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup canola or other neutral oil
• 1 T tumeric
• 2 T each of ground cumin and chilli powder
• 125g root ginger, peeled and finely chopped
• 12 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 & 1/2 cup white vinegar
• 1 kg feijoas, topped and tailed and chopped, but skin on
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 T mustard seeds
• 1 T salt

Method

• Place ginger, garlic, feijoas and vinegar into a food processor and blend until smooth.*
• In a large pot, heat the oil, add the spices and cook until fragrant.
• Add the feijoa mixture to the pot, along with the sugar, mustard seeds and salt, and cook on a low heat, stirring occasionally, until the oil floats on the top (about 30 minutes).
• Ladle into warm sterilised jars. Add a layer of oil to the top of each jar before sealing.

About

I had such a great weekend visiting Whanganui a couple of weeks ago. The highlight was of course seeing our dear friends who have made their home there. One of the many bonuses of staying with them was discovering the Feijoabulous recipe book. Did you know Whanganui has an annual ‘Feijoabluous’ feijoa festival? Well, I do now, and frankly, what a great idea. Sustainable Whanganui not only hosts the festival but also produces a recipe book with plenty of ideas for the glut many lucky feijoa growers experience in a season.

I’m going to have to try a number of these, especially the feijoa vodka. With some leftover, empty jars just hanging around after my recent apple jelly-making, however, the kasundi was a natural first choice. Kasundi is a mustard-rich condiment originally from Bengal. Fragrant, sweet feijoas are a delightful base for the pungent mustard and vinegar in this adaptation. I have found it is particularly delicious eaten rather non-traditionally with some sharp cheddar on crackers; give this a try for a new twist on your platter!

*if you don’t have a food processor, I think you could dice the feijoas into quite small pieces and let sit with the vinegar, garlic and ginger – it would make a slightly chunkier kasundi, but this is not a bad thing!