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
stupid question: do you crush the juniper berries and the black peppercorns?
Hello
our freezer is filling up nicely with damsons (or are they wild plums? not sure) from our garden and I’m really excited about these great recipes. Should I thaw the frozen damsons before making jam / cheese / chutney or can you use them frozen. Advice much appreciated – I love the site!
thanks
Catrin
Can i stew,remove the stones then feeze the plums to use later..I have a bad back among other things and can only manage about 5lbs of fruit at a time and am frightened of them rotting, even though I will do a batch every day until used. We are lucky enough to have found an old estate that has been made smaller and the excess land where apple trees and golden and victoria plums and blackberries grow in abundance has been left to grow wild but no one goes into it as it is weed and bramble blocked…my husband who is a young 72 has made a crafty entrance so for the last two years it has been our lovely secret, but i will pass it it on when it gets too much for me…but i do share it’s produce out bottled or not…
Hello Lou
It makes roughly six jars (depending on the size of jars). We use dried juniper berries. I haven’t tried it in the slow cooker but I think that is should work well but the slow cooker needs to be without a lid for the mixture to evaporate and thicken.
Hello Katyvic
Thanks for your feedback. Lucky you having your own damson tree!
Hello Julie
Greengage and apple chutney sounds delicious. We use wild plums to make this chutney they work very well.
Last week made chutney with greengages and fallen apples from the garden. It tastes good, but I will try not to let the family eat it all too soon. Next batch will be with damson when they ripen, and also some wild plums which aren’t very tasty but hopefully will go with it.
Great recipe!!
Returned from holiday to find the lawn blue with windfall damsons – so I made a batch immediately, while unpacking with the other hand…
It filled 5 large ex-‘Bonne Maman’ Compote jars (600g size) plus a good-sized dollop which we have put in the fridge to try out tomorrow for lunch. The last scrapings in the pan were setting even as we cleaned them out – and already tasted delicious.
We used dried juniper berries. I crushed them and put them, together with the peppercorns (also lightly crushed) in a wire spice net which I use to cook with large whole spices (it makes sure you remove them all at the end of cooking). We used the hob/cool oven and it took about 4 hours.
The jars are still (just) warm, and I’m hoping the centre buttons pop down soon – they’re still up at the moment.
Hi, I’ve never made chutney before but with a yellow plum tree fully loaded in the garden I think I’ll give it a go next wkend when I have gathered all the equipment ingredients. Am I right in reading the other comments that all this ingredients only makes 6 jars (approx)? Any feedback from anyone whose tried it in a slow cooker? Also do the juniper berries need to be fresh or dried? I can’t wait to have a go. The plum tree had no fruit last year and we only moved in the Autum before, so its our first harvest!
Hi, we have a yellow plum tree full of plums so can’t wait to try this recipe. I have never made chutney but enjoy eatting chutney so want to give it a go next wkend once I have all the equipment. Is it correct that all that ingredients just makes approx 6 jars? I may try it in the slow cooker, has anyone any tips on this? I did think of doing it in my big Le Creuset but things often stick to bottom. One final question, do I use fresh or dry juniper berries? Thanks
Thanks again. 🙂
Hi Anna
I’m no expert butI never use a water bath for jams or chutneys. The centre button down is a godsend as it indicates a proper seal.