Chutney Recipes

Peach Pear Chutney w/ Hot Peppers
Pear Chutney w/ Dried Cherries & Habeneros
and Six Fruit Chutney

     I first heard about Chutney from my father-in-law. It sounded good so I had him send me a recipe. I also looked in my Ball Blue Book of canning recipes, and on line. I ended up mixing a few of the different recipes to come up with my own. Having never tasted Chutney, I wasn't sure what exactly I was aiming for, but from the description and ingredients it sounded like the Peach Habenero Sauce I had bought at Costco, so that is what I had in mind.

     Any one who is interested can play with the following recipes. (And this way I will always know where the recipes are!)

Peach Ginger Chutney
4 1/3 cups apple juice, boiled to half, creating a syrup
6 cups peaches, pealed, pitted, and finely chopped
1/3 cup dried apricots
2/3 cup finely chopped onion
2/3 cup brown sugar (or pure maple syrup. could substitute honey)
1 1/3 cup apple cider (red wine vinegar would probably work as well)
1 1/2 Tbsp fresh ginger, minced
1 teaspoon sea salt, or plain salt
1 Tbsp minced garlic
1 whole habenero, minced (w/ or w/o seeds to preference)
1 1/4 teaspoon Cardomon (look in the spice isle, it is a must!)
3/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Peach Pear Chutney w/ Hot Peppers
6 cups pears, peeled, seeded, and finely diced
4 cups peaches, peeled, pitted, and finely diced (and juice if any)
1 1/2 cup finely diced onion (yellow or red)
2 hot wax peppers
1 habenero
1 cup brown sugar
1 1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
2 cups apple or pear juice
1/2 Tbsp sea salt or plain salt
1 1/2 Tbsp peeled, finely diced fresh ginger
1 1/2 Tbsp garlic, minced
1 teaspoon ground cloves
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
2 teaspoon cardamon  (can add equal amount of mustard seed, if desired)
2/3 cup dried fruit (cherries, apricots, golden raisins, dates, etc) diced

Pear Chutney (sweet)
12 cups peeled, seeded, and finely diced pears
1 cup finely diced onion (red, yellow, or sweet)
1 1/3 cup brown sugar (or pure maple syrup)
1 2/3 cup vinegar
2 cups apple juice
2 Tbsp mustard seed
2 Tbsp ginger, finely chopped
1 1/2 Tbsp garlic, minced
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp cardamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/3-2/3 cup finely chopped, dried cherries (tart)

Six Fruit (or more) Chutney
6 cups apple juice, boiled down to 3 1/2 cups
10 cups peeled, seeded, and finely diced fruit (I used pears, two different varieties of peaches, a sweet yellow apples and a tart red apple)
1 1/2 cup red onion, finely diced
3/4 cup yellow bell pepper, finely diced
1 cup brown sugar or maple syrup (add 1/3 cup if you want it sweeter)
1 1/3 cup vinegar
1 1/2 Tbsp peeled, finely diced fresh ginger
1 1/2 Tbsp garlic, minced
1 teaspoon ground cloves
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoon cardamon
1 teaspoon sea salt or plain salt
1 cup diced, dried fruit (a mix of tart & sweet. I used, cherries, apricots, & plums)

Method:
 So, how you prepare it gives the chutney two different consistencies. The recipes I saw said, "dump everything in a pot, and simmer down". You end up with a flavored, chunky applesauce type consistency. The commercial chutneys that my father-in-law described were more of "recognizable chunks of fruit in syrup" which was similar to the the Peach Habenero Sauce I bought at Costco. I tried the everything in the pot approach first. The children like more of the sauce and less of the fruit, so I added apple juice to make it more syrupy and developed my own method. (The juice also contributed to the sweetness and allowed me to skimp on the maple syrup, which is a little pricey.) So here are the instructions for both methods. Choose the one that fits the consistency that you want.

These are medium size batches. You can store in the refrigerator for several weeks, or can it in pint or half pint jars following the Ball Blue Book canning instructions.

Applesauce or "Butter" type Consistency:
Put all ingredients in a pot. (Omit apple juice to reduce cooking time.) Simmer until fruit is broken down and flavors are blended. (It will look like chuncky applesauce instead of separate ingredients.) Refrigerate or process in jars.

Fruit in Sauce Consistency:
I tried this two ways:
Method one: boil apple juice (or any fruit juice) down to a half creating a syrup consistency. Add sugar and vinegar, onion, (peppers if called for) ginger, garlic and salt. Let simmer until the onion, ginger and garlic look cooked. (Half an hour to couple of hours depending on the heat.) Add the cloves and other spices. Add diced fruit and dried fruit to syrup. Let heat through (5-10 minutes) and pour immediately into jars and process.
   Essentially this is a "raw pack" to keep the texture of the fruit. Fruit may float in liquid in the jars. This one is a little runnier. Shake it up before serving. Works well to put on chicken or meats before cooking.

Method two: Simmer juice, sugar, vinegar, onion, (Hot peppers go with the onion if you want them mild, or put the peppers with the fruit if you want more heat.) garlic, ginger, salt and spices. (Adding the spices to the simmering darkens the syrup. Adding them later produces a lighter syrup.) Add fruit and dried fruit. Simmer until fruit is cooked and syrup consistency is achieved. (There may not be much syrup.) Pour into jars and process.
   With this method you are cooking the sugar, vinegar, onions, ginger, garlic, and spices longer than the fruit to create a syrup and to prevent overcooking the fruit. This will be a thicker product.

Some of the recipes called for more sugar and vinegar, so you could experiment with adding more of those ingredients. (Do not reduce the vinegar if canning.)

It worked great to have this simmer on the stove while I cleaned the kitchen and did other canning projects. Then I bottled it when I was ready. (One time I poured the boiled ingredients over the fruit in a large glass jar, then set it in the refrigerator over night. The next morning I reheated it, added the dried fruit, and jarred it.) That is why there are no exact times as to how long to simmer or cook it. I am also the type of cook that does a "a dab, a titch, a little more or a little less" and consider any recipe "mere guidelines". I do try and keep the correct ratios when canning (sugar:vinegar:fruit), but usually stray a little bit, especially in the seasoning end of the recipe.

Enjoy!