Fruity Brown Sauce

Ingredients:

For the Fruit Juice Extract
100g blackberries
50g blackcurrants
100g raspberries
50g plums, chopped

720ml malt vinegar
1 tbsp mustard powder
200ml fruit juice (extracted as above)
2 tbsp black treacle (molasses)
1 tbsp salt
2 tbsp Muscovado sugar
2 dessert spoons plain flour
3 tbsp tamarind pulp
3 tomatoes, chopped
60g dates, chopped
4 shallots, chopped
1/2 tsp freshly-grated ginger
4 whole cloves
6 allspice berries
4 black peppercorns
2 bay leaves
pinch of ground turmeric
pinch of cayenne pepper
1 star anise
1/2 tsp coriander seeds
a little oil for frying

Method:

Begin with the fruit juice extract. Combine the fruit in a pan with 4 tbsp water. Gently bring to a simmer, cover and cook for about 10 minutes, or until the fruit is soft. Turn the mixture into a fine-meshed sieve and allow the juice to drain naturally from the fruit. Reserve 200ml of this juice for making the sauce.

Add the oil to a pan and use to fry the shallots until softened (about 6 minutes) then add the tomatoes and dates and cook for 4 minutes, or until the tomatoes begin to release their juice. Add the fruit juice extract, tamarind pulp and spices and bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce to a simmer, cover the pot and cook for 10 minutes. Take off the heat and set aside until cold.

Pass the mixture through a fine-meshed sieve, pressing with the back of a spoon to extract as much liquid as possible. Return this liquid to a pan and whisk-in all the remaining ingredients (except the vinegar, sugar and treacle). Bring to a boil over medium heat then stir-in the vinegar, treacle and sugar. Return to a boil and continue boiling, uncovered, for 5 minutes, stirring all the while.

Take off the heat and allow to cool a little before pouring into a bottle that's been sterilized and heated in an oven pre-heated to 120°C for 10 minutes. Securely seal the bottle then set aside to cook. Allow to mature in a cool cupboard for at least 3 weeks before using. Store in the refrigerator once opened.