Long time no see... and some Blood plum and tamarind sauce

It's been a while since I've posted in this place, and there's been a few cobwebs that have formed (i.e. mountains of spam) which I'll deal with soon... maybe after I've deal with the real cobwebs around the house. I'm not sure if I'll be posting here on a regular basis again, but I desperately needed jot down some recipes so I don't forget them. There are a lot of projects that I'm super keen to document around here, but there's a PhD to finish...

I'm at the tail end of my PhD, and right at this very moment in time I'm writing papers, making blood plum and tamarind sauce and listening to the Triple J hottest 100. I'm pausing from my science writing because I didn't want to forget my recipe for blood plum and tamarind sauce. It's warm outside and so it's going to be Gin and Tonic O'clock soon, and then I'll definitely forget the recipe.

This weekend is pickling weekend with some friends, and I needed to get started because there are a lot of jars to sterilize and fill. 100 jars, to be precise. We're also going to be making my peach chutney and ajvar.

I kind of winged this recipe, based it on a few others like Maggie Beer, Gourmet Traveller and SMH. Here we go

Blood plum and tamarind BBQ sauce

2 large onions, finely chopped

1.8kg blood plums, skin on, halved, seeds removed

250 ml red wine vinegar

250 ml water

700g brown sugar

1/3 cup tamarind puree

4 cloves garlic

1 1/2 tsp fresh grated ginger

1 tsp salt

1 tsp black pepper

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp cloves

1/2 tsp tabasco

1. Sautee onions, garlic and ginger for 4-5 mins until softened
2. Add plum halves, red wine vinegar, water brown sugar, salt, pepper, cinnamon, cloves and tabasco
3. Bring to the boil then simmer for 30 mins. Puree.
4. Continue to reduce on a very low heat until a desired consistency is reached. Puree again.
5. Bottle and process.