The Basics of Chutney

[Shortie]

Hi

I wanted to have a go at making a few chutneys this year and I know you can follow a basic chuntey recipie and just substitue as you go. But what is a basic chutney recipie? Preferably a sweet chutnye recipie please as I'm hoping to have a go at making a sweet carrot chutney for sandwiches (no chilli or garlic) and a sweet rhubarb one

Also, a quickie on rhubarb jam - I know there are some lovely basic recipies out there - rhubarb and sugar (in equal amounts) and lemon juice but I've never eaten rhubarb jam before. Is it sharp or sweet and does anyone strain off the fibres or do they disintegrate anyway?

Thanks as always!
Shortie

[pickleandpreserve]

The Basics of Chutney

Hi Shortie

I've found most chutney recipes to be pretty adaptable, as long as you substitute similar ingredients you should be ok. Just make sure you simmer the chutney until it's quite thick ( a small amount of liquid in the top of a jar is ok as it gets absorbed into the fruit or veg during the maturing process).

This is a Carrot and Almond Chutney, which I've made this year but haven't tasted yet, I'm sure you could leave out the chilli if you wanted, and maybe add another few spoonfulls of honey.....

Carrot and Almond Chutney
Ingredients
1.25kg carrots
85g grated ginger
250ml white wine vinegar
150ml water
juice and grated rind of 2 lemons
3 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp honey
1 tbsp salt
2 tbsp ground coriander seeds
1 tsp ground ginger
2 large chillies
3 tbsp flaked almonds

Method
Grate the carrots and mix with all the other ingredients, except the chillies and almonds, leave to stand overnight.
Bring to the boil and simmer for twenty minutes, then boil hard for ten to fifteen minutes or until thickened.
Finely chop the chillies and add them and the almonds to the mixture.
Pot in steralised jars.
Makes about 1.2kg (2.6lbs)

I made some rhubarb chutney at the weekend, again not sure if it's going to be sweet or not as it's not matured yet - I'd add some more sugar if you were worried (maybe another 500g), especially as rhubarb is bitter to start with. You could leave out the chilli and garlic.

Rhubarb Chutney
Ingredients
1500g rhubarb
1500g dark brown soft sugar
900ml vinegar (malt)
425g sultanas
75g chopped dried apricots
40g root ginger
30g salt
30g garlic
1 chilli
2 tsp peppercorns
3 lemons, peel only

Method
Finely chop the rhubarb and garlic.
Crush the root ginger and place it with the peppercorns and lemon peel in a piece of muslin and tie with string.
Place all of the ingredients into a large saucepan and bring to the boil.
Simmer gently, stir frequently, until the mixture thickens.
Remove the muslin bag.
Pot in steralised jars.
Makes about 3kg
Leave for 3 months to mature before using.

With regards rhubarb jam, there's a nice one with ginger on my blog, it's not sharp at all, and the ginger really adds to the flavour without distracting from the rhubarb. The rhubarb fibres don't fully break down, so I'd make sure you chopped the rhubarb into short pieces (1cm??) to make sure it wasn't too stringy.
This has been a the favorite over the last few weeks at breakfast and is a great way to use up a glut of rhubarb.