Chutneys

Chutneys are some of the most enjoyable recipes to preserve. For one, they are sweet, a majority have that cursed tooth, but more importantly, chutneys have a plethora of uses. There is hardly a meal or occasion where one cannot find a use for chutney. Sweet lowers heat. In its native India, 400 years before refrigeration, chutney was created to offset the hot of curry and other spices used to preserve meats. In the simplest translation, chutney (chut nai) means “to taste good”; a more meaningful translation might be “to make edible.” Early sea captains sailing the trade routes—from India around the Cape of Good Hope, up the coast of Africa, and across the Atlantic to the New World’s fledgling colonies—brought these recipes made with unheard of fruits. Befuddled colonists substituted what was then growing. Today, chutneys abound in America, are more popular than ever, and have taken on a mystic quality of their own.

Often referred to as the fastest hors d’oeuvre in America, these sweet yet often spicy condiments can be ladled over many different cheeses (Brie and cream cheese being the most widely used) for a party treat that will cause crowding around the table. Specific chutneys are great with pork, fish, and fowl; are used to enlighten certain starches like rice or potatoes; and with curry dishes, of course, they go together like a horse and carriage. On the following pages are enough chutneys for many different applications. Select the ones that best suit your lifestyle. There are more than enough for everyone.

Chutneys

Mango Chutney

It could have been Major Grey who, in the early 1800s, started the occidental love affair with mango chutney; but, alas, he is the stuff of legend. However, the legend continues.

Today, chutney is more popular than ever, and mango is the crown jewel of fruits for chutney. Since the colonial introduction in this country, chutneys have added a depth to dining that meat and potatoes just couldn’t fathom.

This recipe uses mango as the predominate fruit, as found in the original chutney, and is the perfect foil for curry dishes. The sweet offsets the heat in curry powder, while the mango complements meats in the sauce. I made a dozen jars and offered them at a Saturday farmers market. My peach chutney had always been a favorite, but the mango marched away like the soldiers ordered off to war by the old Major Grey—gone in a flash, the peach was left behind to do KP!

Canning Notes
Ingredients
8 cups peeled, seeded, and roughly chopped (thumbnail-size chunks) mango (about 12 pounds)
2-1/2 cups sugar
1-1/2 cups finely diced red onion
1 cup raisins
1 cup finely chopped crystallized ginger
1 cup cider vinegar
1/2 cup finely chopped hot peppers (seeded and deveined is optional)
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lime juice
1/4 cup red pepper flakes
1 tablespoon salt
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
Directions

Place all ingredients in a nonreactive canning pot. Stirring often to prevent burning, bring to a temperature of 195–200 degrees F; continue cooking, allowing chutney to thicken to the consistency of thin pancake batter. Pour into sterile jars, seal, and invert for the required 2-minute minimum.

Serving Suggestions

To serve mango chutney with a curry dish is like a homecoming reunion for the two, but many serve it over cream cheese as an hors d’oeuvre. Try ladling it over English Stilton, just to remember the British and the part they played in securing such a delectable as chutney from their far-flung colonies. On a simple water cracker, the two stars will make a third star of the hostess. The mango flavor always reminds me of exotic warm days with cool breezes and times of leisure, so I use this chutney accordingly. A tablespoon dropped on a conch salad, on a trigger fish ceviche salad, or as a side to coconut-encrusted shrimp never fails to bring compliments.

Chutneys

Orange and Date Chutney

Where once there was one, now there are a thousand chutneys, many created for a specific pairing. Today, in the hands of creative persons, new ways continue to explode. Although oranges and dates might appear at first to be strange bedfellows, the two grew near each other in biblical times, which speaks volumes, and this might well be a rendition or even reinvention of a pairing many thousands of years old. Finding real citrus fruit chutney is like a treasure discovery. The delicate flavors don’t lend themselves to big commercial batches, so there are only a few. Keep this in mind as you serve it. One could find himself pressed into small-batch processing.

Canning Notes
Ingredients
6 cups white vinegar
2 cups light brown sugar
3 cups white sugar
1 to 2 tablespoons crushed red pepper flakes
2 cups finely chopped red onion
4 cups peeled, seeded, and chopped oranges
3/4 to 1 pound golden raisins
3 cups pitted and chopped dates
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 cup orange zest
Directions

Pour the vinegar into a canning pot and bring to a boil before adding the sugars and the crushed red pepper. Stir well until the sugars are completely dissolved, reduce heat slightly, and add the onion; cook until clear. Add all but the zest and cook on medium until the chutney begins to thicken, about 1/2 hour. Bring temperature up to 190 degrees F; add the zest and mix well. Pour into sterile jars, seal, and invert for 2 minutes minimum.

Serving Suggestions

Chutney over a cheese always makes for a delicious party treat. To be unique and get away from the cream cheese syndrome, the orange would pair exceptionally well with Camembert. Going fancy, one might try this chutney with duck. Reading through this volume, duck and orange are a natural, so duck with a sweet orange chutney would be over the top. On a simpler note, a more common fowl like Cornish game hens or just plain chicken will pair equally well.

Blueberry Chutney

Chutneys can be to a dinner plate what pillows are to a bed. The latter just isn’t as comfortable without the former. And once again, it’s the sweet and meat thing. Commercially, chutneys are seldom produced. Because of extended cooking times, equipment gets tied up for excessive periods when two or three quicker products might otherwise be completed. It all comes down to money. And as is often the case, the trick to making good chutney is in the slow cooking, rendering from the fruits and vegetables their natural flavors and sugars. Blueberries, a super antioxidant, are a favorite fruit and, although they stain everything from clothing to teeth, I cannot imagine a cupboard much less a world without them.

Canning Notes
Ingredients
1/2 cup cider vinegar
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
1-1/2 cups light brown sugar
1-1/2 cups finely chopped sweet onion
6 cups fresh blueberries
3/4 cup golden raisins
1/4 cup whole yellow mustard seeds
1/4 cup minced crystallized ginger
2 tablespoons orange zest
1 tablespoon red pepper flakes
1/2 tablespoon allspice
1/2 tablespoon vanilla extract
Directions

Put the vinegars, orange juice, sugar, and onion in a nonreactive canning pot. Cook over medium heat until onion is clear, about 5 minutes. Add the remaining ingredients, turn heat to high, bring to a boil, reduce, and cook down until blueberries begin to break down and chutney just begins to thicken. (Blueberries contain enough pectin to jell on their own, so do not overcook; otherwise, you’ll get jellied chutney!)

Bring temperature to 190 degrees F. Ladle into sterile jars, seal, and invert for 2 minutes minimum.

Serving Suggestions

All the usual suspects work here, cream cheese, Brie, and even white cheddar. Over or beside wild or domestic fowl, this chutney can do the trick; the same goes with pork. The deep bluish purple always adds to the look of a plated supper.

Here is something a bit different. Make a mixture of one part blueberry chutney with two parts yogurt to make a dressing for a luncheon salad. If yogurt is not your thing, try mixing equal measures of chutney and mayonnaise (homemade being best). For the salad green, use a lettuce like romaine, add a few strips of ham, smoked turkey, bacon (if you dare), and some diced chicken—one, some, or all of the above. A sliced hard-boiled egg goes well, as does some grated white cheddar. Once the salad is to your liking, pour on the dressing and enjoy an unforgettable yet light repast.

Kiwi Fruit Chutney

The fruit is not from New Zealand as one might expect (being named for the country’s national bird) nor is it from neighboring Australia (although the first commercially grown crop among Occidentals was in that country). The fruit is native to China. Harvested for over a century now in English-speaking countries, the benefits of this unique fruit are still being discovered as medical science compiles more about the needs and demands of the human body. Since the early 1970s, kiwis have been grown in the United States, and many regions harvest a crop today. The fruit is mild and light-tasting, producing a chutney that is the same yet filled with exotic and unique flavoring.

Canning Notes
Ingredients
6 cups coarse-chopped peeled kiwi
2 cups medium-chopped yellow onion
2 cups sugar
1-1/2 cups distilled vinegar
1/3 cup raisins
1/3 cup golden raisins
1/4 cup minced garlic
3 tablespoons peeled, minced or grated fresh ginger
2 teaspoons mustard seeds
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon coarsely ground pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
Directions

Place all ingredients in a canning pot and bring to a canning temperature of 190 degrees F.

Ladle into sterile jars, seal, and invert for 2 minutes minimum.

Serving Suggestions

This is one of the few chutneys that should not be poured over cheese, but it is the chutney that should often accompany chicken salads or chicken salad sandwiches. As a fancy yet simple appetizer, whip up a simple chicken salad, place a slice of kiwi on a round cracker, top with a mound of the salad and then a dollop of chutney. This chutney makes a delightful accompaniment to fish or chicken, as it does also to a most healthy plate of protein-rich beans and rice.

Chutneys

Cherry Chutney

With cherry season, there comes a feeling of jingoism. I don’t know whether it is because of Washington’s alleged cherry tree mishap or images of the nation’s capitol when the cherry blossoms are in full bloom, but when I see the first farmer’s roadside stands touting just-picked cherries, my chest swells and I am once again a 125 percent United States citizen. Pitting cherries is a chore, and mess abounds as the juices spray and stain. The fruit is tart but the flavor extraordinary, and the color of certain varieties is a deep red—all benefits, so it’s time well spent. Maybe just make one day “Cherry Day,” with preserves and chutney done for the year. For the rest of cherry season, one can enjoy eating the succulent little orbs while lounging in the hammock, thinking about what comes next.

Canning Notes
Ingredients
4 cups stemmed and pitted sweet red cherries*
1 cup medium-chopped white onion
1 cup cider vinegar
1 cup honey
1 cup golden raisins
1/4 cup grated orange peel
1/4 cup crystallized ginger
1/2 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon allspice
Directions

Place all ingredients in a canning pot over medium-high heat; stirring often, cook down until signs of thickening show. It should not be runny, but remember that cooling will further thicken a finished product.

Fill sterile jars, seal, and invert for 2 minutes minimum.

Serving Suggestions

Cherries and duck are a close second to orange and duck, so when the desire for that rich dinner builds, consider using the birds minus their legs and thighs for duck a l’orange, reserving the latter for duck confit with cherry chutney. Recipes for confit abound online. Served on a bed of greens with 2 or 3 tablespoons of cherry chutney as a side along with a French baguette, this becomes a most fitting continental excursion. These rich and somewhat expensive meals become a pleasant treat every once in a while and remind us of just how good homemade can be and how much money is not being spent dining out.

Back to reality, cherry chutney and cream cheese are a natural, but spread over goat cheese, it gets gourmet. Pork is another option; serve with cherry chutney to complement a simple chop, or to infuse a tenderloin, or turn the pork into a confit just like duck. The only challenge is rounding up the necessary fat. About this time, one might be wondering if this author is trying to kill the readership. French cooking is often heavy and fatty yet delightful; the French lifespan is 2-1/2 years longer than the average American’s, and the French population is leaner. Is it their incessant smoking, their fatty foods, their red wines? Something here doesn’t tally. Enjoy confit!

*Pinch or squeeze the fruit and the pit will pop out; use both hands and the job is done in no time.

Eggplant Chutney

Eggplant chutney has no fruit, so cooking time is greatly reduced, although preparation time steals a bit of this advantage. It is one of the most expensive recipes in this book to make because of the balsamic vinegar, yet it is well worth the effort and the cost! The nearly black finish, with red chunks of dried tomato, the purples of various eggplants, plus the colors of the peppers and squash, is striking even before the flavor hits one’s taste buds. Make enough to give a few jars away at gifting times. It’s unique and always makes an extra special present. It won’t be forgotten.

When our company was in full production, we made over ninety mouthwatering products, yet a version of this chutney was the only product to make it across the Atlantic to be sold in one of London’s most famous boutiques. I often consider this a favorite, like if I had to “get out of Dodge” right now with only one jar in my saddlebags, this would be it. Why? It’s so yummy that its uses could fill this book!

Canning Notes
Ingredients
1/2 pound each Chinese and Japanese eggplant (skin intact), cut into 1/2-inch cubes; or 1 pound eggplant (skin intact), cut into 3/4-inch cubes*
3/4 pound red bell pepper, large-diced
3/4 pound yellow bell pepper, large-diced
1/2 pound yellow squash, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1/2 pound zucchini, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1/2 pound red onion, diced
1/2 pound sun-dried tomatoes, medium-chopped
3/4 cup sliced jalapeños
1 tablespoon minced garlic
2 tablespoons tightly packed fresh thyme
1-1/2 tablespoons tightly packed fresh oregano
2 tablespoons tightly packed fresh basil
1 tablespoon coarsely ground pepper
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 pounds light brown sugar
4 cups balsamic vinegar
Directions

Combine all ingredients in a nonreactive pot, place on high heat, and bring mixture to 205 degrees F, stirring often to prevent burning while allowing to thicken.

After taking an initial pH test and adjusting if necessary, hot-pack in sterile jars, seal, and invert for 2 minutes minimum.

Serving Suggestions

Let’s put it this way, it’s tough to imagine what this chutney might not be good on! I love putting a big black glob next to chicken and then watching an unsuspecting table guest stare at it, wondering if it is tar, before mustering the courage to taste it. One taste later, she demands to know where I bought the stuff. It’s fun to smile and whisper, “I made it—it’s simple.” On white fish (from flounder and tilapia to trout or catfish), it adds a symphony of flavors, often giving a whole different perspective to “fish for dinner.” Spooned over St. Andre cheese with a surround of water crackers, eggplant chutney will be the hors d’oeuvre hit. And, just to round off eating, try spreading on luncheon sandwiches or stuffing a tablespoon or two into pita pockets to complement the likes of chicken or tuna salad. You can also serve as a side with pork or any curried dish. This chutney is “the must” for every well-stocked pantry and the “gotta give” when gifting friends.

*The oriental varieties of eggplant have lighter skins and denser flesh, making a more colorful display and a firmer chutney.

Seafood Chutney

My first experience with fish and sweet sauces was at Ivar’s in Seattle. That was many years ago, but Mr. Haglund’s baked salmon slathered with a simple preserve still lingers on the taste buds of my memory. When I arrived in Charleston, South Carolina, after a grueling 15,000-mile sailing voyage, where my son and I ate fish EVERY day, a friend Joanne treated me to a “Crispy Flounder” at Market Street’s Garibaldi’s. Fish was not exactly my thing after three years of not much else, but I acquiesced. Was I glad I did. After being deep-fried, a whole flounder is then coated in an apricot-cilantro glaze. I realized right then that fish and sweet sauces are a marriage at the altar of the palate. This chutney is not heavy like the coatings described above, but rather it offers the lightness of tropical fruit along with the natural sweetness of honey plus many of the traditional flavors used when preparing seafood.

Canning Notes
Ingredients
1 pineapple, skinned and small-diced
2 mangos, skinned, seeded, and small-diced
4 kiwis, skinned, sliced, and slices halved
1 medium red onion, medium-diced
1 cup water
1-1/2 cups honey
1-1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup freshly squeezed lime juice
1/4 cup grated fresh ginger
2 tablespoons minced garlic
1 tablespoon coarsely ground pepper
1 tablespoon crushed red pepper; or 1 to 3 hot peppers of choice, finely diced
1/2 tablespoon celery seed
Directions

Place the prepared fruits and onion in a nonreactive pot with the water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and cook until water is nearly gone.

Add the remaining ingredients and, stirring often to prevent burning, cook on medium high until the chutney shows signs of thickening. Bring to 190 degrees F.

Hot-pack and seal in sterile jars. Invert for 2 minutes minimum.

Serving Suggestions

Salmon is a favorite for this chutney, although Arctic char and steelhead trout are extravagant substitutes when available. Farm-raised salmon and char can be purchased from responsible fisheries featuring clean, healthy, sea-based farms producing an excellent product. But when the opportunity arises, always choose the wild. There is no equal. A fish that has survived in the wild has real muscle (meat) unlike a fish that has been leisurely swimming in a circle with not a care in the world. I speak of pink-fleshed fish, a condition created by diet, not birth. But white fish like flounder works equally well, and the fish does not have to come from the sea. Mountain and lake trout as well as catfish, pike, pickerel, and walleye will score high marks with this chutney. Just bypass fishy fish-like cod and mackerel. All you need to do is ladle a tablespoon or two on top of each fish serving after it comes off the heat.

A 1-pound fillet takes about 25 minutes in a 325-degree oven, less under the broiler or on the grill. Smother the chutney over the fish just as it is removed from the broiler and allow it to finish for 5 minutes. The flavors will set and the various colors against the flesh make an attractive presentation. This is a light meal, not a meat-and-potatoes kind of evening, so quinoa (the ancient grain of the Inca; a light, complex starch with a perfect protein complement) might be an excellent choice. Along with the 2:1 water/quinoa mix, add 1 teaspoon of lime juice for each 1/2 cup of water used. For a vegetable, use one of the dark leafy greens like spinach. Here is a well-balanced dinner with an attractive and colorful presentation in under a half hour.

Chutneys