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
I have never made chutney before…….watch this space.
x
Hello David
Oh I see! Everyone could do with a bit of levity 😉
Hello Ann
I wouldn’t bunch your trees together. Give them as much space as possible so that they will thrive. Don’t plant them directly in grass. Cut a circular border for each one so that you can easily feed and water them and they will not be competing with the grass for nutrients,
Great that you liked the recipes.
Hi Fiona and others, Midwinter in not so sunny Bendigo Australia, cold nights and cold days at present. However in anticipation of summer have bought lots of fruit trees, too many I suspect, am wondering if it’s ok to bunch them together rather than space apart. Have Quince, Persimmon, Apricot, Nectarine and Nashi Pear still to put in. I spaced all the others. Bought the house a year ago with an overabundance of plum trees, have got rid of some. All the relish and jams I made last summer from your recipes have lasted well (nearly finished now)and am about to cook up some more from frozen fruit.
Good morning all,
I meant how big the jars are, not the plums, but perhaps I shoudn’t have introduced levity into so serious a subject!
Hi David
I think that you’re mistaken – the recipe is in weight of plums rather than size. I’ve used great big fat dessert plums for this and small wild plums on other occasions. Both work fine using the same weight of plums although I allow less sugar (to taste) for the dessert plums.
Hi KarenO
Sorry about the CAPTCHA hurdle – still just too much spam.
It’s fine to comment on any post about anything 🙂
Oops – I haven’t been on the slow gin! I was reading the comment by Lincsgirl on Delicate and piquant red cabbage recipe and replied to that. I had difficulty with the CAPTCHA code so copied my comment and went on the back arrow but but when I pasted I must have come into the wrong post! But thank you anyway fiona for your Tesco suggestion (and for not asking which planet I was on)
Answer to Kirsty,
I don’t wish to state the obvious but how many jars you need will depend on how big they are!!
Also, (and here I might be asking the obvious) but what has yeast to do with this chutney?
Hi KarenO
Might be worth ringing your local Tesco. Ours gives yeast away.
Unfortunately my local Asda have stopped doing free yeast – don’t know if they have just been inundated with requests or if it’s a general new policy – either way it’s mega disappointing! They didn’t even offer to sell it when I asked where I could get it so it’s down to dried yeast now I suppose unless bakers still sell it?
Hi,
Am just about to make this recipe but don’t know how many jars I am going to need for your quantities!
Hi Kirsty
I’m sorry but I have no idea. I’ll make a note when I make it this year!