unripe tomatoes

hi everyone, this might seem a simple question but I was wondering what to do with my outdoor unripe tomatoes. Do I leave them on the plant to ripen or take them off the plants and maybe put them on the window sill. thanks for any help

 

Hi debs99,an easy way to ripen green fruit is to place them as a layer on a tray and put them in a drawer.Put a couple of ripe apples in to speed things up a bit.

 

hi debs, I'm going to try hanging up tomato plants in the shed and letting them ripen naturally - tip from another site. I've also heard of putting them in plastic bags with a banana (similar to elaine's tip). My mum just lined them up on the windowsill and we were still eating them into the winter

 

I've done that in the past supersprout, cut them off at ground level and suspend from the roof of the shed, if its dark all the better.
Usually wait till October though.

 

Thanks for all that. I've got quite a lot of plants so I'll try all the tips.

 

You could make chutney with any green toms. debs.

 

hi debs, they should ripen on their own. A load of mine broke off when the plants fell over. I just left them on the ground and they did turn red and gave me a special bonus crop :D

 

We HATE green tomato chutney but make our 'mango' chutney every year from green tomatoes.
I've been experimenting with the recipe over the years - this version has half the sugar of the original, is more fruity, and smooooother (nowadays I leave out the nuts). You would never guess it wasn't mangoes! 8)

Black Mango Chutney (with Green Tomatoes)

3 kg green tomatoes
8 oz (250g) dried dates
8 oz (250g) raisins
Just under 1 pint white wine or cider vinegar (400-500ml)

16 bay leaves
4 tsp red pepper (chilli powder)
4 tsp ground cinnamon
4 tsp ground ginger
2 tsp ground cloves
2 tsp ground nutmeg or mace

1 tsp crushed peppercorns
1 tsp crushed brown cardamom seed
4 tsp whole black cumin seed (kala zeera)
2 tbs salt

4 tbs fresh lime or lemon juice
2 lb (1kg) sugar

Optional:
4 oz (125g) shelled pistachio nuts
8 oz (250g) toasted almonds

Cook the green tomatoes briefly: in a pressure cooker, bring to H and let pressure drop naturally. Or boil and let cool. Sieve the pulp or put it through a passata machine. Gently simmer to reduce the pulp to 2 litres (reduce volume by approx. 1/3) in a stainless steel pan. (I do this the day before, and the rest the following day)

Simmer dates and raisins in vinegar until soft. Add them to the reduced green tomato pulp in the pan. Simmer slowly for about an hour until all ingredients are soft, stirring now and then to prevent sticking. Take off the heat and blend for a smooth chutney (hand blender is easiest).

Add salt, sugar, bay leaves, and spices. Simmer for another hour or two until it becomes a thick puree.

Add the lime or lemon juice (and nuts, if you wish). Simmer gently for another hour or so until desired thickness is reached. Remove from heat and pour into sterilised jars.

Yields approx 8lb/4 kg or 4 litres of ââ?¬Ë?mangoââ?¬â?¢ chutney.

:D :D

 

I am going to try this tomorrow seeing as I have all of the ingredients in.

What a great use for my green tomatoes... I mean mangoes.

Thanks

 

That looks an interesting recipe, might try that myself sometime!

Looks just right for copying into the recipe section supersprout?

 

oops