Plum Chutney

I'm participating in Summer Fest 2009 - the month-long blog food extravaganza.  This week's theme is Fruit from trees, and rather than doing a pie or a desert, I thought I'd so something different: chutney! 

I'm a relatively recent convert to chutney - but what a convert I am!  I actually can't eat Indian food or most curries now unless I have a sweet/vinegary chutney to counter balance the spicy/savory of Indian curries.  Last year, I made a sweet tomato chutney from a recipe by Madhur Jaffrey from her book "World-of-the-East Vegetarian Cooking."  But this year, with all of the news on the east coast about the tomato blight, I decided to make a chutney from something different (I'll just have to ration that last 1/2 pint of tomato chutney I have left).

Walking around the farmers market after work, I saw that plums were just going out of season, so I bought a couple of pounds.  I got a few responses to my Twitter query (Twuery?) for good plum chutney recipes (thanks to @FoodPreserver1 and @crankycakes).  I took some basics from these, but then added the spice mixture idea, garam masala, common in Indian food, to give it a little more spice (not hot spice, but spicy spice).  I grind my own spices in a coffee grinder (that is only used for grinding spices), but if you can't do this, you can usually get garam masala mixes in many asian grocery stores.

I used what were sold as "sugar plums," which had dark skin and a dark red flesh, but when I make this again I will probably use a different type that has firmer yellow flesh.  I would also make sure that they are just on the edge of ripe - mine were too ripe and weren't easy to cut and also resulted in a chutney that is a little less chunky than I would like it to be.

Serve this chutney with Indian curries, as an addition to a cheese plate or in a sandwich (turkey or chicken with brie and this chutney would be amazing)It would also go really well with meats like lamb or pork.

Plum Chutney

2 T yellow mustard seeds
3 lbs plums, cut into quarters
1 1/4 cups raw sugar (I used Sugar in the Raw)
1 1/4 cups white vinegar
1/2 cup white onion
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 T kosher salt

2 whole star anise
1 t whole cloves
1/2 t whole allspice
1/2 t whole cardamom

2 cinnamon sticks

If you are going to put up this chutney, wash 5-6 half-pint jars and lids.  Get the water bath canner ready, but don't start heating until 15 minutes or so before the chutney is done cooking.

Cut up the plums (leaving the skin on) and put aside.  Put the whole spices (with the exception of the cinnamon sticks and mustard seeds) in a spice grinder and pulse until finely ground.  Heat a heavy bottom pot and add the mustard seeds to the dry pot.  Watch them carefully, and when they start to pop and jump, turn down the heat and add the plums.  Add the remaining ingredients including all of the remaining spices.  Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and simmer until significantly reduced, about 50 minutes to an hour. 

Stir occasionally, but towards the end, stir frequently, making sure it doesn't stick to the bottom.  I always try to cook chutneys a little longer than I think they should be cooked - they always turn out better that way.  The chutney should be thick, dark and somewhat shiny and you should be able to see the bottom of the pot as you stir it.

Sterilize your jars, and fill each leaving a 1/2 inch headroom.  Process for 20 minutes in a boiling water bath canner.  If you don't want to can this, the chutney will keep in the refrigerator for several weeks.

Makes 5-6 half pints.

Comments

[Niki at spilledingredients]

Mmm, this is definitely a chutney recipe I'm going to try. I wonder if it would pair well with spring or egg rolls. I just can't seem to get into curry, but maybe this is the ticket.

[Kim McGalliard]

I think it would be really great with spring or egg rolls. I think it would go pretty well with anything savory that you wanted a little sweet (but not overly sweet) taste with.

I've been eating it with multigrain toast, spread with goat cheese and topped with some chutney.