Home Made Chutney

The Recycled Cook

By Adrian Sleeman

Home Made Chutney

Another great way of preserving food is by making chutney or relish. Although we think of chutney as being Asian or South east Asian in origin they in fact came from Northern Europe as long ago as 500bc. The Romans embraced the method and eventually so did the British empire who took them to tropical regions where they have since been adopted by those countries.

 The name "Chutney" that we use today is derived from the Hindi word "Chattni" which means "to lick", they were usually sweetened with honey rather than sugar and were added to dishes as a sweetening agent rather than used as a relish as we do now. 

 Chutneys can be made from almost any combination of vegetables, fruits, herbs and spices and are usually grouped as either a sweet or spiced chutney. Natural preservatives are used to keep the chutney from going mouldy, such as vinegar, lemon juice or tamarind paste. 

You can blend the chutneys in a blender, with a hand mixer or, using the traditional method which I prefer, a pestle and mortar. I find this later method although laborious, gives a much better texture to the finished product.

 There is, as with pickles, no limit to the flavour combinations you can use, just look at what is in season and readily available. Again as with pickles I would strongly recommend using organically grown produce rather than those that might already have been treated with artificial preservatives. 

 In addition to using sugar, salt, garlic tamarind and onion, spices commonly used in chutneys are white and black pepper, cumin, cayenne pepper and fenugreek (Methi). You can also include coriander (cilantro), tomato, Red green or yellow peppers (capiscum) and mint. To add that extra tropical flavour add coconut, red and green chilli, mango, papaya, lime and ginger.


 Making chutney couldn't be easier, simply peel and remove stems, pips and stones from whatever ingredients you are using, chop coarsley and place in a heavy bottom pan, add a little water if required, bring to the boil and simmer for around 60 minutes. 

 Allow to cool a little as fruit can get very hot due to the sugar content. When cool enough to handle safely blend or crush to the desired consistency and bottle in sterilised jars. Ideally use flip top jars with rubber seals but sterilised jam jars work just as well. My "Mamgu" used to put a disc of greaseproof paper between the lid and the jar for that extra seal.

Disclaimer: The suggestions and tips on these blog pages are meant to be used in conjunction with common sense. Keeping your family healthy is the priority. Do not use food that is unfit for human consumption and always follow sensible food hygiene guidelines.  

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