Difficulty: Easy

Makes: 4 x 250 ml jars

Fresh from the garden: tomatoes, onions, chillies

Recipe source:Adapted from the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Foundation

• knife
• chopping board & non-slip mat
• grater
• metric measuring scales, cups and spoons
• large, heavy-based saucepan
• 4 × 250 ml jars, with lids
• labels

• 800 g ripe tomatoes
• 2 red onions
• 3 red chillies
• knob (about 5 cm) fresh ginger
• 1 star anise
• 250 ml white wine vinegar
• 300 g brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons fish sauce

• Set out your equipment and ingredients.
• Chop the tomatoes roughly into small chunks.
• Finely chop the onion.
• Deseed and finely chop the chillies.
• Grate the ginger.
• Heat the red onion and chopped tomatoes in a large, heavy-based saucepan over a low heat.
• Add the chillies, ginger, star anise, vinegar and sugar. Bring to the boil, then simmer for about 30 minutes or until very thick – you should be able draw a wooden spoon across the base of the pan and leave a ‘channel’ behind it that doesn’t immediately fill with liquid.
• Add the fish sauce and cook for 2–3 more minutes.
• Spoon into warm sterilised jars while still hot. Screw the lids on tightly, then label.

How to sterilise jars

• Wash and dry the jars and lids.
• Put the jars in a cold oven then heat the oven to 150^oC.
• Once the oven has reached this temperature the jars are sterile and can be remove from the oven and filled with the preserves.