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 Gareth,
Why not try adding some star anise. If you do I’d love to hear how it turns out.
The slow cooker seems like a great idea. I haven’t tried cooking chutney in one but it sounds like the perfect alternative to stove top simmering.
My first batch of this delicious chutney has now been distributed at home and abroad to unanimous approval, the second batch goes on today. I wonder about embellishing with a star anise?
On alternative cooking methods……
I posted on another site mooting the possibility of doing chutney in the slow cooker, as that would seem ideal for long simmer at low temperature. We’ve got one of those big ones that holds about half a sheep so I believe it would be ideal.
Anyone tried it?
G.
Hi Paula,
Thanks for sharing the Aga method of making our plum chutney, this will be really useful for Aga users everywhere.
So pleased that it turned out well.
It worked out brilliantly!
I did a kind of ‘everything’ method in the end as I had to go and shear some lambs and couldn’t wait for the five hour bit.
Having de-stoned the damson as above, I popped all the ingredients into the pot and brought it to the boil on the hot plate.
I then placed it in the simmering oven for aprox. 3 hours, with the lid on.
Took it out and for the last 1/2 hour I place the pan on the simmering hot plate, with the lid off, stirring occasionally until most of the liquid had evaporated and the chutney was thick and glossy.
Potted as normal.
Can’t wait to taste!
Hi Paula,
Thanks so much for dropping by and leaving a comment.
It would be really helpful to hear how your chutney, cooked in the Aga, turned out. We don’t have an Aga and are looking forward to the day when we do.
Thanks for the tip on sterilising jars in the Aga too. Interesting that the tops don’t melt!
Beekeepers are a good source of jars. We keep bees and often the honey jars are purloined by me!
So pleased that eventually the software settled down and we could read your comment!
No problem with the words now…must have ironed out in the ether
Something strange seems to have happened to some of my words in the comment I’ve just submitted…
I’ve just found your damson chutney recipe which looks delicious.
I have an aga and use my bottom, or simmering, oven for gentle or long, slow cooking. The damsons, plus a little vinegar are in there at the moment, hopefully de-stoning themselves. I’m planning to use the simmering oven for the five hour simmer. I was going to leave the lid on the pot, but see you’ve advised otherwise (above). Would it be helpful to know how an aga version works out?
I also use the simmering oven to sterilize jars. I pop them in (upside-down in a roasting tin after I™ve washed them) for an hour or so. And use them warm when ready to pot.
My local honey suppliers supply boxes of jars with plastic screw tops (I also put these in the oven, they haven™t yet melted and I™ve been using them for quite a few years!), perfect for chutney, or any preserves.
Lovely site¦though haven™t had time to look at it all yet
I am so pleased that you like the plum chutney, Gareth.
Thank you for taking the time to report back. Much appreciated!
I said I’d be back with an update so here I am.
The chutney is a hit!!! It’s being eaten now, no waiting a month chez nous, and everyone is highly complimentary.
This was a first for me, I’ve never done any preserving before. I’m really surprised at how easy it is to produce a terrific result. Thanks for your recipe and guidance.
G.