Spiced Damson Chutney

I should really be waiting until Christmas to blog about this chutney seeing as I can't taste the darned thing for a few months. Yes, Delia tells me it needs time to "mellow" so it is currently mellowing in my kitchen cupboard.

I decided to make damson chutney after being given a bag of them by a work colleague. She had a glut and was never going to use them so offered them to me. I've never cooked with damsons before so I had never experienced having to remove the stones out of gazillions of them. I used one of Delia's methods which was stewing them and then picking out the stones with rubber gloves - messy and extremely tedious and I really should have counted the damsons going into the pot as I swear I pulled out three times as many stones.

I found chutney making quite therapeutic if a little bit faffy. It took quite a while to get all the ingredients into the pan but I had a nice feeling of satisfaction once there were all in there and bubbling away on the hob.

I didn't have an allspice berries so I used a heaped teaspoon of ground allspice and shall hope for the best.

Spiced Damson Chutney

Ingredients

1.35kg damsons
2 heaped tsps ground ginger
2 small cinnamon sticks
25g allspice berries
1 tbsp cloves
1.2 litres malt vinegar
450g cooking apples
3 large onions
3 cloves garlic
450g seedless raisins
450g dark soft brown sugar
450g demerara sugar
2 tbsps sea salt

Method

First, remove the stones from the damsons. You can do this be either halving them and twisting out the stone or stew them in 275ml of the vinegar and then picking through them with rubber gloves as the flesh comes away from the stone.

Put the damsons into a large preserving pan. Core the apples (leave the peel on) and finely chop them in a food processor. Finely chop the onions in the food processor. Add the apples and onion to the preserving pan.

Crush the garlic and put that into the pan along with the ginger, raisins, sugar and rest of the vinegar. (If you are using ground allspice pop that in now as well). Sprinkle in the salt and stir everything through well.

Wrap the cinnamon, allspice berries (if you are using them) and cloves in muslin and tie the top loosely with string to form a small bag. Tie the bag to the handle of the pan and suspended amongst the rest of the ingredients.

Bring everything to the boil, then lower the heat and let the chutney simmer for 2-3 hours. Stir it occasionally to prevent it sticking to the bottom of the pan.

To test if the chutney is ready you need to do the channel test. If the chutney is ready when you draw a channel with a wooden spoon across the surface it should leave an imprint for a few seconds.

Whilst the chutney is still hot pour into hot, sterilised jars, filling them as full as possible as it will shrink back when cooled. Seal the jar tightly with a vinegar-proof lid.

Label the jars when cold and store the chutney in a cool, airy cupboard and leave it to mellow for at least 3 months before eating.

The recipe makes about six 1lb jars of chutney, so a decent amount. I'm wondering what I will do with it all but I already have four people wanting a jar!

The aroma from the spices was amazing. Seriously. It felt like Christmas when it was cooking, even though it's still only August! (Was also a particularly cold day when I was making it which helped it feel even more festive!).

Delia suggests eating this with cold meats, cheese and also sausages. I actually think from the smell, it would be AMAZING with sausages or some nice festive ham so will be trying both of these at Christmas!

I will report back in a few months with the final verdict on the chutney.

love & kisses
Mrs M x