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Mrs. Ball's Chutney

A fruit chutney made with dried peaches, apricots, onions, sugar, vinegar, salt, and cayenne pepper.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Peach and apricot match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 342 recipes. Both carry delta-dodecalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓

Mrs. Ball's Chutney

Time1–2 hours

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the fruit

  1. Soak the dried fruit in 2 litres of the vinegar overnight, then cook all until soft.

  2. Remove fruit and mince or food-process the fruit.

Make the chutney

  1. Place leftover soaking liquid and the further 1 litre of vinegar and fruit in a pot.

  2. Add sugar, grated onions, and spices.

  3. Add more vinegar if too thick (it should not be too runny or too thick).

  4. Cook for 1–2 hours, stirring occasionally to prevent it from 'catching' on the bottom.

Jar

  1. Pour into sterilised jars and seal.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

205Calories
3 gProtein
1 gFat
43 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 8 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Peach1 medium (150g)59
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Wine2 tbsp cooking wine (30ml)25
Apricot1 medium (35g)17
Chili1 tsp (2.7g)8
Vinegar1 tbsp (15ml) distilled3
Salt1 tsp (6g)0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Peach + apricottop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together342 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

  2. Onion + peppertop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together68,474 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  3. Wine + vinegartop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,493 recipes

    Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).

  4. Apricot + winetop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together247 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4-methoxybenzaldehyde (sweet, anise).

  5. Peach + winetop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together218 recipes

    Shared aroma: hexanal (green, grassy).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Dried peaches
Provide fruity sweetness and body as they soften and break down into the chutney.
Dried apricots
Add tangy-sweet fruit flavour and thicken the chutney as they cook down.
Brown wine vinegar
Adds acidity that balances the sugar and helps preserve the chutney.
Sugar
Sweetens and, as it cooks down, helps thicken the chutney to a spreadable texture.
Onions
Add savoury bulk and mild sweetness that mellows during long cooking.

The step that matters

Stirring during the long cook. The chutney is thick and sugary, so it sticks and scorches on the bottom of the pot. Stirring regularly keeps heat even and stops the sugars from burning, which would give a bitter taste.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (peach, apricot, wine, vinegar, sugar, pepper):

  1. Capsicumfits better
  2. Tomatofits better
  3. Mustardfits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against peach, apricot, wine, vinegar, sugar, pepper. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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