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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Have plenty of spare courgettes this year, but no spare plums. 🙁
Not a good year for plums unlike last year.
However on the good side, the chutney I made last year in the super glut is still fine using the same recipe as above but with a tenth of the weight of sweetener compared to sugar. Let’s hope that it lasts until next harvest!
It has turned out perfect, we are eating it now as its TOO nice to wait,will add courgettes again.
Have just made Elderberry liqueur and cordial for the first time ever,so far the cordial is delicious with sparkling water and some sites recommend to take 3 tsp daily to ward off colds as it is high in vitamin C AND IRON.Will let you know how the liqueur tastes in 3/4 months.
Next job—soak fruit for xmas cake……….
Hi Fiona from wintry Malmsbury (Vic, Aus) we are on the brink of spring, was interested in Kathy’s intention to include courgettes in ‘the lovely chutney’, whenever I have added courgettes to jammy things, they go a bit mushy, are ok in pickles, what do you think, and Kathy do let us know how it turns out. I usually have lots of courgettes too in summer. I have just made Christmas pud and cake for my Christmas in late winter next weekend, house still smells beautiful. bye for now
I Have made chutney before but this one looks really nice,I’ve got an allotment so have lots of yellow and green courgettes at the moments so have added 1Lb450g -hope it won’t spoil the chutney.
I’m so glad I’ve just read your plum chutney recipe, I’m in the process of making the plum and pear chutney from the HFW preserves book. It looks good, but the recipe said 2.5 to 3 hrs to simmer, Well I’m nearly at 5 hrs now and its still not quite ready. Now that I’ve read your chutney took 5 hrs, I can relax. Thanks xx
Hi fn
Two years?? I’ll be lucky if it lasts two months in my house. Took some to work today and yabugs!! was lucky to get the jar back in one piece, you would think they had never tasted chutney before!!!!
As promised, my daughter came back with another shed load tonight and this time, I will be putting some far far away….. (out of sight, out of mind). My little personal treat. Fancy the look of the no cook apple, date and onion one now.
Chris again!!
Chutney was a huge success. It tastes divine. Will be taking some to work tomorrow for my lunch. If anything it is on the vinegary side but hey I love vinegar. That may mellow if I leave the other jars a couple of months before I open them. The problem is, can I wait that long mm?….
Sending my daughter out with a wheelbarrow next time she walks the dog for the plum collecting!!!
Hi Zoeangel
The vinegary taste does mellow. We have some 2 year old plum chutney and it’s to die for!
Hi Chris here again.
Thanks for your speedy response Suky.
Am about to start it now. Watch this space!!
Yup, I make all my chutney in the slow cooker. ‘cos the wild plums are so small simmer gently in almost no water until soft and squish out the stones and then make as recipe. Whatever you do, don’t try to cut the stones out, it will drive you mad 🙂 Last year I made my 1st batch by simmering them in some of the vinegar, never again, it made my hands really sore when squishing out the stones.
You need to bring the chutney to the boil with the lid on then simmer gently, lid off, until thickened, stiring occasionally. I’m afraid you still get the smell but it doesn’t burn if you leave it alone. You have to cook with the lid off as it thickens by evaporation.
Hi Chris here.
Have just found this wonderful recipe for plum chutney having just been presented by my daughter with a bag full of wild plums following her walk with the dog. I was wondering if anyone has made this chutney in a slow cooker and if so how did it go. I love making chutney but 5 hours simmering does not go down well in an open plan kitchen/dining room. (smells like still cooking 3 days later):<