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).
Leave a reply
Hi Dave
Yes it would work. It might take a bit longer to mature.
Due to the glut of plums this year, everyone seems to be making chutney and the local stores have no white white vinegar. Would cider vinegar work as a substitute?
I made this recipe exactly as written 3 days ago. I know it’s meant to sit for a few weeks before eating but I had a taste just now and the over riding flavour is of white wine vinegar. Any suggestions or should this mellow with time?
Hi Dawn
Thanks so much for this link!
Hello Susan
Yes it will take much, much longer. It’s best to make two batches rather than a giant one as you have more control. You probably will need to stir the big pot more too.
I made the same mistake years ago and in the end I took it off the heat and cooked it for the remaining time the next day.
If you have two big stock pots you could try dividing the mixture in two.
Hi,
This may be a very silly question but i have made your plum chutney for the first time and have doubled the recipe as i had a huge amount of windfall plums. Will it still take the 5 hours to be ready or will it be longer?
I saw a neighbour’s lawn littered with apples and it reminded me that it’s time to make a great chutney that has become my favourite. You can find it at – www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/database/applepearandapricotc_13703.shtml. I have to rely on friends passing on spare apples and pears but they love getting the resulting chutney back. It has fresh mustard seeds, ginger and lime in it so has a bit of a kick and it is great with beef or good ham.
Hello Dave
Thanyou so much for this, much appreciated.
I am diabetic and am making it with sweetener.
I suggest about 1oz of sweetener for the recipe as sweetener is a lot more sweet than sugar.
Use your own taste buds to modify this to taste.
I think that the preservative is the vinegar so that shouldn’t be a problem.
I keep it in a fridge to aid matters, though I don’t know if it makes any difference.
Hi Dawnie
I’m afraid that I have no experience of making diabetic chutney so cannot advise you.
The chutney will keep for at least two years if sealed in sterilised jars.
I fancy having a go at making plum chutney, but I have a few Q’s before I start, my dad is diabetic so could I replace the sugar with artificial sugar/sweetner in a batch for him and how long does the chutney keep.