Mango Chutney Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What are the ingredients in chutney? ›

Chutneys are made by slow-cooking fruit or vegetables with peeled ginger, garlic, Korintje cinnamon, and chilies. Spices and vinegar are added to preserve the chutney and give it a tangy flavor.

If your chutney is too runny or your recipe calls for a thickening agent, always use cornflour mixed with a little of the vinegar. Cornflour is gluten free. Always to this at the very end because thickening your chutney like this will make catch and burn easily.

If chutney is not thick enough for your liking, remove a little of the liquid from the chutney and place in a cup. Mix a couple of teaspoons of cornflour with this liquid to make a runny paste. Add to the chutney, stirring, then place back on stovetop and bring to the boil; chutney should thicken up.

Vinegar used in making chutney must be good quality and have at least 5% acetic acid content. Any good brand white, malt, wine or cider vinegar should possess the correct qualities. Brown sugar is used for darker coloured chutney but where a lighter colour is required granulated sugar is recommended.

Tomato chutney is common everywhere, but Bengali tomato chutney is sweet, thanks to the addition of dates or mangoes, and used to cleanse the palate between spicy and sweet courses, while Hyderabadi tomato chutney packs more heat thanks to dried chillies, and is served as a side dish with rice or flatbread.

The recipe makes approx 4 x 200ml jars. I added nigella seeds for more spice and texture but you could leave these out if you don't have any. The chutney will thicken as it cools.

If the chutney is too runny then in our opinion the best solution is to put it into a pan and bring it back to the boil, then simmer rapidly until it is the required thickness. If you can do this in a couple of deep frying pans (not aluminium) then it should help to speed up the process.

Once made, chutney can be eaten immediately but the flavours improve and develop if it is left to mature for a couple of weeks or even months. Store your unopened jars in a dry and dark cupboard for best results. Once opened, keep your chutney in the fridge and eat within four weeks.

If you sterilise Kilner or jam jars and fill them with your chutney, the chutney will keep for up to two years unopened in a dark, cool place. Once opened, keep chilled and use within two months.

If the chutney seems too runny, cook it for another 5-10 minutes and test again. You may also like to give the chutney the odd stir as you cook it, to prevent the mixture at the edges of the pan from catching.

What brings out the flavor of mango? ›

To bring out flavor, chill chunked mangoes with a wedge of lemon or lime. Or purée them with a splash of lime to make a delicious, brightly colored sauce for desserts (like this coconut rice pudding topped with mangoes). The mango's cool, juicy flavor complements spicy dishes such as curries.

Jams and chutneys are made by boiling the fruit and other ingrdients together until setting point is reached (for jams) or the mixture is suitably reduced (for chutneys). The warm mixture is then poured into warm sterilized jars and sealed either with a lid or wax paper plus a cellophane wrapper.

Mango chutney: This tangy, fruity chutney is a classic accompaniment to sharp cheddar cheese, and can also be served with other hard, aged cheeses.

Relish. Chutney and relish are two popular condiments, and the names are often interchanged. The confusion is understandable because chutneys can be savory, and relishes can be sweet. In general, chutneys have a chunky spreadable consistency much like a preserve and are usually made with fruit.

Relishes, on the other hand, are cooked for a shorter time, with the resultant relish chunkier and more sharply flavoured than a chutney. Some people argue that a chutney will always contain mainly fruit or a mixture of fruits, and relishes are generally made of vegetables, and usually one variety.

In the USA, salsa and hot sauce are popular alternatives to chutney as both provide a similar flavor profile with added heat. Salsa is a sauce made from tomatoes, onions, chili peppers, and various spices, and can range from mild to extremely hot.

Both a jam and a chutney will contain sugar, although a jam would be much sweeter, with the chutney having a more acidic, tangy flavour from the addition of vinegar. To preserve a chutney a combination of vinegar and sugar are used, whilst in a jam it is the sugar alone which acts as the preserving agent.