Recipe Plum and Preserved Lemon Chutney

SatNavSaysStraightOn

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I have recently been making quite a lot of chutney whilst preserving fruit from my pear tree and a while ago I had to cut back my lemon tree, so I had quite a few preserved lemons. This recipe uses quite a surprising amount of preserved lemons once you have removed all of the flesh which you don't eat, so whilst 70g doesn't sound like a lot, I can promise you that the taste more than cuts through in the flavour. This chutney has quite a tart flavour.

I'm not going to cover how to sterilize the jars, and it should go without saying that you need to jar the chutney in sterile containers... I'm also not going to pretend that this can be made inside 1hr which the original recipe does.

Ingredients
1kg plums, washed, stoned and diced (so 1kg of fruit ready to use)
350g red onions, small dice
350ml red wine vinegar
250g raw brown sugar
70g preserved lemons, skin only, small dice
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground peppercorns
½ tsp ground mace
½ tsp ground mixed spice
½ tsp grated nutmeg
½ tsp sea salt

Method
  1. In a wide pan or dedicated preserving pan (* see note if using anything else), add the onions, vinegar and sugar and bring to the boil. Cook on a lower heat at a gentle simmer for 10-15 minutes until soft.
  2. Add the plums, preserved lemons, all of the spices and the salt and return to the boil. Lower the heat and stir periodically ensuring a gentle simmer for 1 to 1½ hours until you have a thick chutney. Ideally you should be able to put a tablespoon of chutney onto a plate and draw a spoon through the middle and that not be a thin liquid where the spoon moved through. Keep simmering and stirring, then testing until you have your desired thickness/runniness! As a guide, the volume will reduce by between one third and one half.
  3. Now jar into sterile jars, seal & label.

* Note Chutneys/jams/preserves can be made in any heavy bottomed pan. But the smaller the diameter of the pan, the less evaporation can take place and therefore the longer it will take to simmer off all the liquid. Plus the smaller area in contact with the heat source will also mean a higher risk of burning the bottom of the pan so more frequent stirring and careful vigilance will be needed. it is one of the main reasons people can't make chutney or jams or preserves in the stated/given times.

And the as to what does it look like? Well it just looks like a finely diced plum chutney! (finely because that's our preference.)
 
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