Chutney Making - Foraging and Preserving - Pippin & Gile

Chutney Making – Apple and Onion ChutneyChutney Making – Apple and Onion Chutney

6th September 20196th September 2019
Chutney Making - Foraging and Preserving - Pippin & Gile
Categories:
Jump to Recipe Print Recipe

How to make a traditional apple & onion chutney

Jump to Recipe

It’s that time of year again when the berries, and fruits are calling out for our attention.

Growing up on small holding in rural Surrey, I was raised producing these preserves year-on-year to store the garden’s produce. This apple and onion chutney is adapted from a Ministry of Agriculture Fisheries and Food recipe from WW2 and is commonly referred to by friends and family now as Chaldon Chutney after the village I grew up in.

The smell of this bubbling away on the hob brings back many happy childhood memories for me, and I hope that this recipe will allow you to make your own happy memories too.

Bubbling away on the the hob

The spices used in the recipe also show how much we were relying on the empire and the trade routes this allowed us access to, in contrast to the Dig for Britain island mentality that I remember understanding from history lessons. 

Recently I’ve been using wind falls and other apples that have fallen, usually as they are slightly mouldy or have creatures living in them. Cut out anything that you wouldn’t eat raw. The full crop of apples near me aren’t ripe yet, but varieties and regions vary, so check.

Collecting apples - Pippin & Gile - Foraging - Autumn
Collecting windfall apples

If you’ve not got an apple tree or an orchard, there are still a few options around! Search for your local community one here. You’ll often see apples outside houses saying free to a good home, when their tree has had a bumper year. You can always forage for crab apples too – though as these tend to be smaller I choose to make jellies and butters rather than jams and chutneys out of these. (I’ll cover those shortly.) Lastly, not an immediate return, but why not plant a tree or two for the future? They have wonderful spring blossom, will provide a habitat and food source for many insects and birds, and supply you with apples a few years down the line. 

 
Spring Foraging Course

Spring Foraging Day
£95

Learn to identify and cook seasonal wild foods. Our instructors will take you on a stroll to gather our plants in the afternoon you’ll cook up a delightful celebratory meal.

Basket Weaving Day
£95

Create your very own willow basket. We take you through the entire basket weaving process from how to harvest your willow to how to care for your basket.

Badger Print - Scotland - Pippin & Gile - Bushcraft and Foraging - South Wales - South London - Brecon Beacons - Surrey

Track and Sign
£95

Spend a day with our highly knowledgeable instructors. Develop a deeper understanding of the wildlife a mix of habitats including chalk grassland, hazel coppice, plantation on ancient woodland.

Chutney - Apples - Preserving - Foraging - Autumn - Pippin and Gile - Bushcraft
Print Pin
4 from 2 votes

Chaldon (Apple and Onion) Chutney

The joy of this recipie is how loose it can be, so if you don't have quite the right ratios don't worry, or have sultanas rather than raisins. As long as you don't majorly drop the sugar or vinegar quanties you'll have made a wonderful preserve. Have fun and play.
Course savoury relish
Cuisine British
Keyword Apple, British, Chutney, Preserve, Traditional
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 2 hours 30 minutes
Total Time 3 hours
Servings 12 Jars
Cost £5

Equipment

  • Large Pan
  • 15 or so half pound jam jars with a plastic seal on the inside of the lid – bare metal lids corrode over time. 
  • A ladle and a funnel make bottling easier.

Ingredients

  • 3 Pounds Apples peeled and roughly chopped, they’ll mostly be mashed later. ( I tend to weigh after chopping.)
  • 3 Onions chopped (to about the size of a raisin)
  • 12 Ounces Raisins chopped
  • 2 Tablespoon Black Mustard Seed crushed or ground (in a grinder or with a pestle and mortar)
  • 2 Tablespoon Ground Ginger
  • 1 Teaspoon Cayenne Pepper
  • 1 Teaspoon Turmeric
  • 2 Pounds Brown Sugar light or dark brown to taste – I prefer the richer flavour of dark brown. 
  • 1.5 Pints Malt Vinegar

Instructions

  • Add all ingredients into a big pan
  • Bring to simmer and simmer for 2.5 hours
    Around half an hour before the end of the cook time gently mash the apples (with a potato masher, or squash between a wooden spoon and a fork)
  • Pour cooked apple and onion chutney into clean pre-warmed jars
  • Screw the lids on tightly
  • Label once cooled
  • Hide at the back of the cupboard
    and enjoy at a later date. The vinegar mellows over time. I’m enjoying a 2014 batch at the moment and it’s beautiful. 
  • Enjoy with strong cheese and cold meats, pork pies and in toasted cheese sandwiches.

If you have enjoy this article and want to take it further join us on our September Foraging and Preserving Weekend, you can also sign up to our mailing list, for more articles like this throughout the year.

If you enjoyed this article sign up to our newsletter
Tags: , , , , , ,

2 thoughts on “Chutney Making – Apple and Onion Chutney”

  1. 4 stars
    This site is really a stroll-through for all of the info you wished to know about preserving but didn’t know who to ask. Glimpse right here, and you’ll definitely uncover it.

Comments are closed.