11 October 2018
Autumn is well and truly here now, so it’s time to start preserving that seasonal abundance of fruit and vegetables. While looking around the net for something quick and easy to make, we came across some variations on the theme of plum chutney.
It’s amazing what you can learn when researching recipes – did you know, for instance, that in the Indian sub-continent aloo is the word for potato, as in that curry house fave aloo gobi (potato and cauliflower).
More surprisingly, it is also used for the humble plum – known as aloo bukhara, so called because the plum first appeared in the sub-continent via the fabled Central Asian city of Bukhara.
Ingredients (makes around 880g – 1kg of chutney
- 1kg ripe plums
- 250 g red onion
- 200g light brown sugar
- 300 ml apple vinegar
- 100 g raisins
- 2 teaspoons mustard seeds
- 2 teaspoons cumin seeds
- 2 teaspoons red pepper flakes
- One cinnamon stick
- 2 cm fresh ginger, peeled and diced
- Glass jars for storage
Method
- Wash and cut the plums in half, remove the stones then half again and half again so you have eight pieces of plum. Finely chop the onion and then mix all the ingredients together except for the sugar in a large stainless steel saucepan.
- Bring to a boil over a medium heat, stirring occasionally, and when it’s bubbling add the sugar. Keep stirring until the sugar dissolves and then reduce the heat to low and keep it simmering for two hours or so, stirring every now and then so the mixture doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pan.
- The mixture should thicken and turn a deep ruby red colour, as in the picture above. Allow the mix to cool a bit and then pour it into sterilised glass jars – wash them and leave in the oven at 50 c for 30 minutes. Put a lid on tightly and store the chutney for at least two weeks in a cool, dark place before eating.
Knidos Cookery Club 