Laura’s fruity chutney

Chutney is one of the easiest preserves to make – and its punchy flavours bring out the best in cheese and cold meats

  • Ready in 35-40 mins, plus about 1½ hrs cooking
  • More effort

Nutrition per serving

  • kcal 57
  • fat 1g
  • saturates 0g
  • carbs 15g
  • sugars 12g
  • fibre 1g
  • protein 1g
  • salt 0.08g

Ingredients

  • 900g plums
  • 2 Bramley apples (about 550g/1lb 4oz)
  • 450g pears
  • 1 large mango
  • 900g muscovado sugar
  • 500ml bottle cider vinegar
  • 2 medium onions (not red)
  • 85g chopped stem ginger (from a jar of ginger in syrup, or crystallized)
  • 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
  • 1 tbsp mustard seed
  • 1 rounded tsp ground coriander
  • 1 tsp crushed dried chillies
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 cinnamon stick

Method

  1. Halve, stone and chop the plums (about the same size as you would for an apple pie – not too big, not too small). Drop them into a large saucepan. Core, peel and chop the apples and pears in the same way. Peel, stone and chop the mango. Put all the fruit in the pan.

  2. Stir sugar, vinegar, onions, ginger, garlic, mustard seeds, coriander, crushed chillies and salt into the pan, then drop the cinnamon stick on top. Heat slowly for about 20 mins, giving an occasional stir, until the sugar has dissolved. Now leave the chutney to simmer at a steady pace, without a lid, stirring occasionally until reduced and thickened, but still with a nice balance of syrupy juice. This will take about 1½ hrs. You don’t want to cook it until all the liquid has gone, as it will thicken once it cools. Discard the cinnamon stick.

  3. Using a heatproof jug, pour the chutney while still hot into sterilised jars. It will keep for about a year in a cool, dry place.

Suggested recipes from this collection...