We stayed with friends back in February, who fed us some absolutely amazing homemade apple chutney for lunch. Even though I don't get through a lot of chutney, this one was so delicious that I asked for the recipe.
What I got was a story.
One of my friend's friends always won the chutney competition at her local W.I., but refused to share her recipe with anyone over the years. My friend pointed out repeatedly (and hopefully tactfully!) over a period of time that she wasn't getting any younger, and it would be a shame if no-one else was ever able to make the chutney after she died... and eventually the lady caved in and wrote out the recipe for her!
So without further ado, here is a prize-winning, secret recipe for apple chutney for which I claim absolutely no credit at all. (But which I did make at the weekend.)
I used eating apples; for cooking apples, you may want to add a little extra sugar.
Apple Chutney (fills 5 large jam-jars)
3lb apples
1lb onions
1pt spiced vinegar
6oz sultanas
pinch of salt
3/4lb sugar (half white, half brown)
- Use a bigger pan than you think you could possibly need (I barely fitted all the apples in my 26cm casserole dish).
- If your vinegar isn't spiced to start with, heat vinegar gently with a selection of whole spices (I used black pepper, star anise, cinnamon, coriander seed, cumin seed, and nutmeg), then strain before adding the onions.
- Chop onions and simmer in vinegar until soft.
- Meanwhile, dice the apples. Once onions are soft, add apples to the pan and cook on a low heat until the apples are tender but not mushy. (I put the lid on the pan for this stage as there is not enough vinegar to cover the apples, but the instructions didn't explicitly say to do this.)
- Add the remaining ingredients, stir thoroughly, and simmer for at least two hours with the pan uncovered.
10 comments:
I love chutney! I make a blueberry one that I put on brownies and chocolate cake...I will share the recipe with you...I won a hug from people, so it must be good!
I never really 'got' chutney. Not sure why. Maybe one of these days, I'll give them a go again. :-)
I love chutney. I'm bookmarking this recipe so I can make it this fall. But I'm curious, and please don't hold this against me, I'm new here...what is chutney for. We always get a teensy little plastic container of amazing chutney from the Indian place we get take-away from, but I have no idea what it goes with. I usually just end up eating it on its own (did I mention I love chutney) or dipping my nan bread in it. I love it but have no idea what is the 'proper' way to eat it.
Sounds good. I like chutney but tend to forget about it until presented with a jar. Nice with some crusty bread and a fiercely mature Cheddar.
I love making chutney and have never seen the idea of making the vinegar spiced rather than adding spices to the mix - will have to try it - wonder if I can squeeze in another apple in chutney before they are all well out of season
Just made it, very easy and tastes good too
I FINALLY got round to making a batch of this this week. Can't wait to open it and see if it's as good as it smells!
Mmm. I just made a batch with our first crop of apples. It only took about 90 minutes to be the right consistency to jar and it smells divine. Can't wait to get it on some good bread and cheese! Thanks for sharing. :)
Skin on the apples, or skin off? Looks like you have skin on but I can't tell if the apples are red on the outside to begin with (chuckle)!
I just added 3 small, green chillies and did my second batch. I put 3.5lbs away in a dark place for a 6 month period. I can't wait!
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