Late in the autumn, I had some dark red plums that were just asking to be made into something, and I also needed to sort out a couple of kitchen cupboards and use up some of the things I found there, to make space ahead of Christmas. I realised I wasn’t going to eat all the soft dried apricots I had in stock, and while I guess it’s unusual to make a chutney with a mixture of fresh and dried fruit, there’s really no reason why you shouldn’t. So with Christmas on the horizon (well, it was then), I decided to make something to go with the cold meats and pork pies traditional for Boxing Day – something where the spicing had a ‘seasonal’ flavour.
David’s Christmas Plum & Apricot Chutney
300ml white vinegar
900g fresh dark red plums, halved & stoned
500g ready-to-eat soft dried apricots, chopped to a small dice
140g fresh root ginger, peeled & chopped
3 medium onions, 400g unprepped weight
550g peeled chopped cooking apples
Juice of 2 oranges
Juice of half a lemon
1 tablespoon dried red chilli flakes
2 tsp fine sea salt
1 tsp ground cloves
Half a tsp ground allspice
1 tsp ground mace
1 tsp ground cinnamon
700g white caster sugar
Put everything but the sugar into a heavy pan and bring to a simmer, cook for about 30 minutes to reduce, then add the sugar and cook again for 30-45 minutes on a low heat, to reduce again, stirring frequently to avoid any sticking.
Sterilise your jam jars in the oven at 140ºC for at least 10 minutes. Remove jars from the oven, cool for a few minutes, then pour in the hot chutney, and seal immediately. If you use acid- and vinegar-proof screw-top metal lids, the chutney will retain its moisture content and remain quite soft, but if you use cellophane covers held in place with elastic bands, some of the moisture will gradually evaporate, giving you a denser chutney.
I’m told this is particularly nice with some cold leftover roast lamb!
