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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Debbie, We have just opened the final three quarter of a jar of this lovely chutney made a year ago and its great much to my surprise as it was not a full jar. But the seal was good nevertheless and the chutney is smashing. Good luck with the mango purchase. Just made some more plum chutney and find that it is a bit loose this time! When you tip the jar, there is a very slow movement in there. I was cooking the ingreds. for hours and when I did the usual spoon test that appeared to be ok. What consistency did you get with your chutney? I am sure it will be ok though but am slightly apprehensive.
The chutney came out beautifully, all that tried it agreed that it was delicious! Have stocked up on plenty of cheeses to enjoy with this wonderful chutney. Have read the recipe of the mango chutney with interest, as Portobello often clears stock on Saturday afternoon, and a tray of mangoes for a couple of pounds should be a possible. Need more jars!!!
Thanks for the sterlisation method for jars and chutney recipe.
Parveen
Have just found this site after picking loads of blackberries and plums on the “Little Scrubs”, Wormwoods Scrubs baby sister.Have read with envy your wonderful life, you’ve inspired me to try stuff that living in central London, would be thought imposible, but where there’s a will there’s a way. Have never made anything before from foraged food until this year, when armed with two sainsbury’s carrier bags I picked hundreds of elderflower heads, form the banks of the Regent’s canal, and made 8 litres of elderflower cordial. It was fabulous, and so much the nicer for being nearly free! Made my first ever batch of Blackberry Jam yesterday, just with plain old sugar, juice of two lemons and my beautiful free blackberries. Stunning in flavour, took me back to childhood when jam tasted like jam. So am really look forward to trying this recipe, have about 3lb of wild plums, all different colours and sizes, but I thought to make it up some english plums from the market, “Portobello”, is just 2 mins walk from my flat, will let you know how I get on.
Hi Fiona,
Lovely blog and fabulous recipe! I’ve played with it a bit and posted the version I ended up making on my blog. Only out of necessity! Next year, I’m going to try your version. I’ve linked and attributed, so I hope that’s ok. The relevant post is: http://wildthymebank.wordpress.com/2011/07/23/playing-with-cherry-plums/
Thanks,
Helen
Hello Gill, About six weeks will do it but 2/3 months maturing make a fine chutney. We are still eating plum chutney made in Sept last year and it is lovely. Good luck with your flower festival.
I used frozen damsons for your chutney recipe to sell at our church flower festival. How long does the chutney need to mature before it can be used?
Thanks
Great Recipes
I am inundated (in the best possible way) with Mirabelle plums every August and have tried many recipes to bring out their wonderful sweet/sharp flavours. The best I’ve tried have been a frangipane tart and a “stone-in” liqueur.
Frangipane tart:
Use Gino D’Campo’s recipe and adjust to suit own tastes –
http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/3401/limoncello-plum-tart
Liqueur:
LEAVE THE STONES IN (they add to the flavour)
Equal parts vodka, sugar and plums
(eg 2 cups of each)
Strain after 2-3months
Tastes like the sweets “Soor Plooms” so that’s what we call it. Bottle the nostalgia and drink at your leisure.
Hello, josie! leave the skins on as recommended by fn. It will be all right! Have eaten our plum chutney – great! We dont buy Christmas presents – just give out some home made preserves etc and, hey, we have had some good reports coming in esp.about the chutney, although I suppose no-one is going to says its rubbish, are they? Anyhow, we have tasted it and we find its just ace.