Some Chutney Recipes

In September 2010, we held a chutney and jam tasting session on our allotment. people brought along samples of their home made produce with a copy of the recipe.

Here are some of the recipes:

Chutneys originated in India – the name derived from the Hindu word chatni

Cheeky Chilli Jelly

1.4kg apples
600ml water
300ml cider vinegar
100g fresh chillies
sugar.
Chop apples without peeling or coring and put into a preserving pan with the water and vinegar.
trim the chillies, cut in half to remove seeds and add to pan with apples.
Bring to the boil and simmer 20-25 mins or until fruit is soft and pulpy.
Prepare a jelly bag or muslin and strain the mixture overnight.
For each 600ml or juice add 450g sugar.
Heat slowly and stir to dissolve sugar then boil quickly for 8-10 mins or until setting point is reached.
Pour into sterilised jars.

Hot Rhubarb Chutney

750g rhubarb, cut into small pieces
2 tsps chopped frsh ginger
4 cloves garlic, crushed with the ginger
1 tsp chilli powder
2 tablsp mustard seeds
2 tablespoons ground almonds
225g soft brown sugar
500ml vinegar

Boil all the ingredients, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Simmer uncovered for about 1.5 - 1.75 hours, stirring frequently until thick.

Neil's Yellow Cherry Plum Chutney

Ingredients; about 50% plums, 15% apple, 10 % swiss chard, 10% raisins and 15% onions.
Cook with cider vinegar, brown sugar and chinese spice.

Pickling spices: You can purchase ready made pickling spices or create your own blend. Typical blends would include allspice, bay leaf, cardamom, coriander and mustard seeds, cassia or cinnamon, dried chillies ,whole cloves, dried root ginger, and peppercorns.

Sterilise jam jars by boiling them in a pan of hot water for ten minutes or wash in hot soapy water, rinse and place them in a moderate oven for 5 mins.

Spiced Pickled Beans

Good as an aperitif instead of olives or in a bloody Mary…

Makes 2 x 450g jars:

500g French beans, topped and tailed

3 tsps pickling spice

3 tsps black peppercorns

600ml white wine vinegar

½ tsp salt

50g granulated sugar

3 bay leaves

large bunch fresh dill, chopped

1 garlic clove

juice and thickly pared peel of 2 oranges

1 red chilli, deseeded and chopped

Boil beans for 1 min in large pan of water then drain.

Make a muslin bag of the pickling spice and peppercorns and place in a large stainless steel saucepan with the vinegar, salt, sugar, bay leaves, dill, garlic, orange peel and juice.

Cook on a low heat, stirring, until sugar has dissolved, then bring to the boil.

Simmer 10 mins

Remove muslin bag, bay leaves and garlic and leave to cool.

Pack the beans into dry warm sterilised jars. Make sure the beans are at least 2.5cm below the top of the jars.

Add chilli and pour in vinegar mix. Seal and label.

Allotment Relish

4 kg fruit and veg - a mix of onions, plums, pears, apples, courgette, tomatoes (both green and red), carrot etc
500g sugar
600-750 ml white wine or cider vinegar

Just chop the fruit & veg  and cook up, boiling steadily until thick.

Hot Apple Chutney

2kg cooking apples, chopped into small pieces
1 tblsp chopped ginger and same of garlic
450g raisins
1 tblsp dried red chillis
1 tsp salt
450g soft brown sugar
300ml vinegar

Mix all ingredients and bring to boil stirring to dissolve sugar. Simmer gently for about 1 hour or until the chutney is thick.

A good chutney  should have a rich mellow flavour. To achieve this it requires long, slow cooking and then, ideally, it should be left to mature for at least three months.

Spiced Plum Chutney

from "The Allotment Cookbook" by Kathryn Hawkins

900g cooking plums, chop roughly

450g cooking apples, 450g onions, 2 garlic cloves and 5cm root ginger, all chopped finely

600ml white malt vinegar

2 tsp mustard seeds, toasted and lightly crushed

2 tsp garam masala, 2 bay leaves, 1 cinnamon stick, broken

450g light brown sugar, 225g sultanas, 1-2 tsp salt

Place all ingredients up to bay leaves in a pan and bring to the boil.

Simmer for 10-15 mins, stirring occasionally.

Stir in sugar and sultanas over low heat until sugar is dissolved then cook steadily for 35-40 mins until the mixture looks like thick jam.

Discard bay and cinnamon, add salt to taste, spoon into sterilized jars.