Cottage Smallholder Plum Chutney or Damson Chutney
Posted by Fiona Nevile in Chutney and Pickles, Jam Jelly and Preserves | 222 commentsThis chutney recipe works well with plums, wild plums or damsons. It does not need months to mature and keeps well
I had some spare time today so finally retrieved the stock pot from Danny, swooshed it out with bicarbonate of soda to get rid of the taint of clove chutney (see Tricks and Tips below) and found the plum chutney recipe from Anne Mary’s old cook book. This was going to be the base of our own Cottage Smallholder Chutney.
I had collected three pounds of windfall wild plums yesterday and simmered them last night for 20 minutes in 75 ml of white wine vinegar. This is Delia’s canny trick to avoid stoning fresh plums for chutney (use some of the vinegar that you are going to use for your brew). This morning, grabbing a handful at a time, it was easy to find the stones and remove them (our wild plum stones are tiny, barely a centimetre long).
At breakfast we studied Anne Mary’s recipe and decided how we would change it to create a plum chutney that we would be proud of. Danny had to go to London so pinpointed his essential ingredients for our chutney – balsamic vinegar and juniper berries. As I was the one who ruined the last “Let’s make our own” batch with too many cloves, I decided that our chutney was definitely going to work this time.
There was a clove shaped crisis of confidence. And consequently the alterations that I made today were incrementally smalll. This meant hours of tasting, comparisons and retasting, until I felt quite queasy from ingesting so much chutney. (At least a jar without lunch). It has now simmered (tiny bubbles barely breaking the surface) for five hours. When you draw a wooden spoon through the chutney, it is thick enough to see where you have been. It is finally done, and approved for release. We have made a great plum chutney, extra fruity and piquant.
Danny returned exhausted from London and sniffed the aroma as he walked into the kitchen. There was a long silence as he grabbed a spoon and rushed to the stock pot for a taste. His response was positive. Our recipe is below..
Our latest Plum and Tamarind Chutney recipe is here.
Tricks and Tips:
- How do I get rid of tainted smells in pots?
If your cooking pot or container is tainted with the smell of the last resident (curry, tomato sauce etc). Sprinkle with a good tablespoon of bicarbonate of soda into it and add a good splosh of hot water. Rub the solution over all surfaces and leave for two minutes. Rinse well in cold water.
- How do I sterilise jars and lids?
The sterilising method that we use is simple. Just before making the jam, I quickly wash and rinse the jars and place them upside down in a cold oven. Set the temperature to 160c/140c for fan assisted. When the oven has reached the right temperature I turn off the heat. The jars will stay warm for quite a while. I only use plastic lined lids for preserves as the all-metal lids can go rusty. I boil these for five minutes in water to sterilise them. If I use Le Parfait jars, I do the same with the rubber rings.
Cottage Smallholder Plum Chutney or Damson Chutney |
- 3lbs/1350g wild plums/damsons/eating plums
- 1lb/450g of apples (cored but not skinned). Chopped fine. Cooking apples are best but eating apples would do at a pinch.
- 1 lb/450g onions chopped fine
- 10.5 ozs/300g dried apricots (chopped at least into eight)
- 7 ozs/200g dried raisins (chopped into four)
- Half lb-1lb/225g-450g of soft brown sugar, depending on how sweet your wild plums/damsons/eating plums are. We’d usehalf a lb of sugar for eating plums but used 1lb for this batch as we were using wild plums (these are very tart like damsons).
- 2 large cloves of garlic chopped fine
- Half tsp of cayenne pepper
- 2 tsp of salt
- 1 tsp of allspice powder
- 1 tsp cinnamon powder
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- 1and a half pints/750 ml of white wine vinegar
- 1 small hot chilli
- 2 tsp of balsamic vinegar
- 5 juniper berries
- 10 black peppercorns
- Stone the plums and if big enough cut into slices.
- Chop the apples, onions, raisins and apricots.
- Place all ingredients in a large heavy bottomed saucepan and bring slowly to a gentle boil. Turn the heat down immediately and simmer very gently (tiny bubbles just breaking the surface on the lowest heat) for at least five hours until the mixture has broken down and thickens.
- Stir from time to time and more towards the end. If your simmering point is higher than ours, your chutney will be ready sooner. Take a peek every half hour or so. The chutney will thicken as it cools.
- When ready pour into sterilised jars and cover with plastic lined metal lids (how do I sterilise jars and lids? See Tips and Tricks above).
Leave a reply
Hi Fiona,
I love your blog; I’ve been reading from both ends and hoping to meet in the middle eventually! Every recipe I’ve tried has been a success!
I made some plum chutney using your recipe last week and it is delicious. I used wax discs though – and lids. I’m not sure which side faced down and now I see you recommend not using them at all! Why are they not a good idea?
Hello Katieskitchen
It’s wax side down, I think. But don’t use them for chutney, these need plastic lined lids.
Can you confirm to me whether it is wax side up or down when using wax discs and cellophane covers, as I’ve read conflicting advice! I’ve just made plum jam by the way with yellow plums from a mystery tree at the bottom of my garden. It is golden and glorious!
Hi Jodie
I use red and yellow plums for chutney. If they are very sharp I add a little more sugar to taste.
Malt vinegar would work in the recipe but produce a much rougher tasting brew that would probably need to mature for six months. Cider vinegar or white wine vinegar are worth using as they are not nearly so rough. If you add dried fruit to a chutney it increases the balance of flavours. There is no magic ratio of fruit/sugar/vinegar as all fruit has different amounts of sugar depending on their ripeness.
Hi Alison
Thanks for the suggestion. I’ve got plums and apples. Wey hey!
if you get the chance try making damson and apple jam…it is stunning…probably would work just as well with other plums
Hi,
I’m new to preserving but have recently made my first jams and was delighted to find trees full of plums whilst out for a walk. I quite fancy making chutney with them but they are little yellow ones, a bit bigger than a cherry. Will they work for this recipe? Also does it matter if you use malt vinegar? I’m trying to work out if there is a specific ratio of fruit to sugar to vinegar? And do you need more than one fruit in a chutney? I am very new to chutney but recently tried a friend’s damson chutney and was bowled over by it!
Thanks
Thank you for the advice. I have the chutney back on the hob as we speak. It already looks alot thicker. Thank you again.
Claire
Claire- don’t worry, you can take it out and give it another slow cook-up ( without a lid), perhaps your damsons were very ripe and juicy? I always have problems with red tomato chutney for that very reason.Adding some dried raisins or dried apple slices to the mix when you re-heat it may help as they will soak up some of the moisture, and add to the sweet fruitiness of the chutney.
Hi thanks again for advice and recipe, I will definately try it.
I wonder if anyone can help me I have just made the damson chutney today, I did double the ingredients and it seemed to take forever to “set”. I cooked it for about 7 hours and in the end had to bottle it as it was because we needed to go out. I did sterilise the jars and put the chutney in hot, however now that it has cooled the push buttons on top of the jars are clicking up and down. Do you think that the jars have not produced a vaccum and also what to do think I can do to help the chutney thicken?
I am worried all the hours of effort will go to waste and the chutney will be spoiled.
Any advice much appreciated.
Thanks Claire
Best to get it delicious first time, but, like jam, it seems not to mind being re-cooked and re-potted if it is not right!