How to make plum chutney

Why plums suit it

A plum brings sweetness, acidity from the skin and enough flesh to make a substantial chutney without much added bulk. Unlike apple it does not need onion or sultanas to give it body, though both are usually included.

The skins are the interesting part. They carry most of the acid and the tannin, and they stay visible as dark flecks in the finished chutney, giving it colour and a slight astringency that stops it being merely sweet.

Because plums are already acidic, plum chutney generally needs less vinegar than an apple or marrow chutney — though how much is needed for safe storage is a food-safety question rather than a matter of taste.

The method

The stones come out at the start here, unlike in jam. FoodHQ does not publish keeping times, acidity figures or jar-processing schedules. In the UK the Food Standards Agency is the authority on whether and how a sealed preserve is safe to store — follow its guidance on sterilising, sealing and storing.

1. Halve and stone the plums. In a chutney the fruit stays in recognisable pieces, so the skim-the-stones method does not work.
2. Cut them into quarters if they are large. Weigh the prepared fruit.
3. Soften chopped onion in a little oil in a wide pan, then add grated ginger and chopped garlic.
4. Add the plums, vinegar, sugar, salt and whole spices tied in muslin — star anise, cinnamon, cloves and allspice all suit plum.
5. Simmer uncovered for an hour to ninety minutes, stirring more often as it thickens.
6. Apply the channel test, remove the spice bag, and pot into hot sterilised jars with vinegar-proof lids. A chutney tastes raw and vinegary when it is first potted and mellows considerably over weeks. Judging it on the day you make it is the commonest reason people conclude they do not like their own chutney.

Variations

• Plum and star anise, which is the pairing that suits dark plums best.
• Plum and chilli, hot and sharp, excellent with cold pork.
• Damson chutney, made the same way, sharper and deeper. The stones must be removed first, which is laborious with clingstone fruit — halve and cut around.
• Chinese-style plum sauce, with soy, ginger, five-spice and rice vinegar, blitzed smooth.
• Plum and orange, using zest and juice.
• Plum and walnut, with nuts stirred in near the end.
• With red onion rather than brown, which gives a sweeter, softer result.

Notes

Which plums

Almost any. Under-ripe fruit gives a sharper chutney and holds its shape; over-ripe gives a softer, sweeter one.

Skins on

Always. They carry the acid, the tannin and the colour.

Damsons

Excellent and much more work, because they are clingstone. Halve and cut the flesh from the stone.

Vinegar

Less than an apple chutney needs, since plums bring their own acid — within the limits safe storage requires.

Colour

Dark red to near black depending on the variety and how long it cooks.

Common questions