My first Chutney.
By nancyrowina
@nancyrowina (3850)
July 25, 2009 9:36am CST
I made it when I saw a load of plums from my neighbours tree falling from a branch that overhangs our garden and rotting (see my other discussion "I have way too many plums" for pictures of how many I had), so I decided to pick the ones I could reach, I ended up with more than 3 lbs.
I googled for a recipe and found one for plum and apple chutney, when I first started boiling it I was worried I wouldn't have enough jars to put it in but luckily it reduced down a lot during cooking and I was able to get it into 3 jars. It took about four hours to simmer down to the right consistency and if you don't like chopping vegetables I wouldn't recommend it, just to chop all the ingredients and stone the plums took 2 hours. I also had to cut 4 onions which wasn't a lot of fun, but hopefully it will all be worth it when I can eat it, which won't be for a couple of months apparently as the taste of the vinegar will be too strong. Though I did try some yesterday and it's not too bad so this may be one chutney recipe you can eat almost straight away.
3 people like this
9 responses
@cynthiann (18602)
• Jamaica
25 Jul 09
It sounds fabulous. I just love chutneys. I am inspired to make some kind of chutney this weekend. Am happy that it turned out well for you too
3 people like this
@nancyrowina (3850)
•
25 Jul 09
It takes a lot of preparation but it's worth it because it lasts for up to a year so it could keep us in chutney all winter long.
2 people like this
@BarBaraPrz (47667)
• St. Catharines, Ontario
25 Jul 09
Yay! Ya did it! 
Are all the plums picked now, or will there be more? If so, what will you do with them?
Are all the plums picked now, or will there be more? If so, what will you do with them?
2 people like this
@nancyrowina (3850)
•
25 Jul 09
I've just been and picked a load more and there are still plums on the tree, it's a really big tree though and most will probably be too high for me to reach. I've still had about 6 lbs so far though and will be able to pick more with the help of a ladder. I'm going to make plum sauce tonight which is meant to go with duck but we're going to try it with beef. And the rest I will need to preserve as there are so many so I will probably make jam and more chutney.
1 person likes this
@BarBaraPrz (47667)
• St. Catharines, Ontario
25 Jul 09
The jam will remind you of summer when you use it in winter.
@nancyrowina (3850)
•
25 Jul 09
This is the first chutney I've made but I'm guessing it's the same method for whatever you are using. You just boil it down in vinegar and sugar until it's like a pulp with no excess liquid, takes a few hours for that to happen but it apparently lasts for up to a year so it's worth it.
2 people like this
@snowy22315 (182193)
• United States
25 Jul 09
I like fruits and plus I would like this in my chutney. I think chutney is really good and fruity. It tastes good with a variety of things. This is something that I have never tried to make though. I dont know if I would necessarily like it. Chutne is something different.
2 people like this
@nancyrowina (3850)
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25 Jul 09
You cook down all the fruits and vegetables in vinegar with sugar so I wondered if it would work when I saw the list of ingredients, it has onions and carrots in as well as apple and plums. But what I tasted of it when I was putting it in jars seemed quite nice in fact.
1 person likes this
@Shellyann36 (11384)
• United States
25 Jul 09
Your plum chutney sounds delicious! I am very glad that you were able to make it. 3lbs of plums for free is great! I believe that all of the chopping and cooking will be well worth it. Now once you open a jar you will be trying to figure out how to get more plums! Once you have started canning new and different things it becomes addicting and so much better than any store bought item you could buy!
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@nancyrowina (3850)
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25 Jul 09
I've just been and picked another load of plums, the tree is full of them, now I just need jars to put whatever I make with them next in.
1 person likes this
@nancyrowina (3850)
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25 Jul 09
You have to leave it for months before you can really appreciate the taste and the vinegar mellows, but it does taste nice already.
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@GardenGerty (160952)
• United States
26 Jul 09
I have nevwer made any kind of chutney. I think I have a small jar in my refrigerator, though. I have lots of jars of various things that we buy for this recipe or that. If I had an abundance of plums I would be making "plum butter" plum jam or plum jelly. I have made peach and plum preserves. Long long time ago.
1 person likes this
@nancyrowina (3850)
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26 Jul 09
I made plum sauce last night and am going to make some jam soon if my boyfriend doesn't eat all the plums before I can do it. There are still more on the tree though so I can always grab more later.
@drannhh (15219)
• United States
26 Jul 09
I can just see you doing all that work. But later on when the callouses have healed from your fingers (-: that chutney will taste ever so good. The last time we had too many plums I made plum clafouti:
http://reinsrecipes.blogspot.com/2007/09/plum-clafouti.html
1 person likes this
@nancyrowina (3850)
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26 Jul 09
That looks really nice, the only thing is the plums I have are really small so I couldn't slice them that neatly. It would still work it just wouldn't look as nice.
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@nancyrowina (3850)
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26 Jul 09
I saw a guy making that on tv the other night it looks really easy, I just need to get a frying pan I can put in the oven, though it would probably work in a normal cake tin if I lined the bottom.
1 person likes this
@thea09 (18305)
• Greece
26 Jul 09
Hi nancyrowina, I'm glad to hear your first chutney look like it could be a good success. I've only really whipped up the kind of relish to eat with a meal that day though I had good intentions of doing something more daring, like you have done. Despite being a good cook and willing to try something new I had a disaster once with something similar. Being used to paying huge amounts in the UK for artichoke hearts in olive oil I bought a lot of artichokes here at the market at the amazing price of 10 cents per artichoke. With a deft slay of her knife the lady who was selling them showed me how to peel it down to the heart. Armed with rubber gloves I set to the task, quite a tricky and painful one if it's the first time you try it. I followed my recipe carefully and proudly put the lid on my jars of artichoke hearts in my own olive oil. Within a few days the whole lot had gone mouldy. I was not amused.
So keep an eye on that chutney!!
So keep an eye on that chutney!!@nancyrowina (3850)
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26 Jul 09
When preserving things in oil you have to put pin holes them to make sure they don't float as if they do float around on the top they will go mouldy. I did it with chilli's last year and as long as they weren't floating they were fine but when they came to the surface they did go mouldy.
