Cottage Smallholder Plum Chutney or Damson Chutney
Posted by Fiona Nevile in Chutney and Pickles, Jam Jelly and Preserves | 222 comments
a wicker basket full of wild plums
This 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).
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I found your website while searching to find out what the small yellow stone fruits are that have suddenly appeared in my neighbour’s garden.They have lived there for 15 years but never seen these before.They trimmed back what looks like a mixure of hawthorn trees and plum trees from a neighbouring garden last year and now have lots of these fruits. They look and taste like small plums,and I made a spiced upside down sponge pudding with them yesterday, yummy! I wonder if these are mirabelles or wild plums? I will be trying the chutney recipe very soon, Thanks
having made plum and apple jam from mother in laws windfall plums, the second batch has gone into my plum chutney which is currently on the stove – similar recipe to above but with a good glug of calvados added. I have also made previously with chopped dates and other semi dried fruit added – a good pinch of chilli flakes also gives a nice kick if you like spicy. Although not using the slow cooker this time for chutney I do use it as a bain marie for lemon curd and get great results. Hubby making Nigel Slater’s plum crumble for later – super quick and super tasty!
Hi Ian
Great that our recipe was a success!
Hello Rob
You can use a metalic sieve, or a strong piece of kitchen roll.
I’m just making some plum sauce and am not sure how to strain the ingredients as I don’t have a non metalic sieve. Any ideas?
We tried this recipe for the first time in mid August then again two weeks later as we enjoyed the full on flavour. It really is that good!
We are knee deep in wild plums this year having already used them to make jams, BBQ marinade and wine.
Hi Judith
The chilli is chopped with seeds.
BTW or latest recipe for plum chutney is divine, I’m making a second batch after only a week
https://www.cottagesmallholder.com/?p=3458
using apples instead of grapes.
Really love this site! We have an allotment with a glut of plums at the momment!! Have made chutney but going to try the one above. Do you chop the chilli, with seeds or without?
Jodie- there’s a thing called a Jam Funnel that sits in the neck of the jar- a funnel with a wide short spout at the base.They are brilliant, makes filling jars easy,no-waste and clean. Good cookshops/ironmongers should have them,online lakeland.co.uk do them- and everything else you might need for home preserving.The wax lids they mean are the little tissue paper waxed disks that you put wax side down on top of the chutney/jam.
Just meant to say – I’ve got an old recipe book which says you need to use wax lids as otherwise the vinegar erodes the metal?
Have just made this chutney (well, kind of!) I didnt put in all the spices as I wanted to see what made a chutney! I used star anise, juniperberries, peppercorns, cloves, ginger and mustard powder – almost a chinese 5spice mix! I wasn’t sure how much sugar to put in as the plums were sweet when eating but tart when stewed. It smells and tastes very vinegary but i’m hoping that after a month it won’t have quite such a kick! I kind of guessed at the quantities because I had just over 4lb of plums. I’m happy with the taste but there is a strong vinegar kick!
Anyone have any suggestions for how to get the chutney in the jars without making an awful mess? I must have lost half a jar while ladling it in!