Why it works: Lemon and cucumber match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,067 recipes. Both carry trans-2-nonenal, which smells cardboard, fatty. The science ↓
70 Ripe Cucumber Chutney
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Cut 1 quart of ripe cucumber, peel and seed it, and cut into cubes.
Add ⅓ cup lemon juice, ¾ cup sugar, ⅔ teaspoon ground coriander seed, ⅛-¼ teaspoon celery salt, and ½ cup seeded raisins.
Soak cucumber in cold water overnight, drain.
Cook and seal
Cook with the sugar, raisins, and part of the lemon juice until soft.
Add the remaining ingredients, heat well, and seal in jars.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
Counts 5 of 6 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume: 5 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Grape | 1/2 cup (76g) | 62 |
| Sugar | 1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated | 49 |
| Cucumber | 1/2 cup sliced (52g) | 16 |
| Lemon | juice of 1 lemon (48ml) | 12 |
| Salt | 1 tsp (6g) | 0 |
| Water | not in our table | 0 |
One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures. See the original page.
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.
-
Lemon + cucumbertop 9% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together2,067 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
-
Sugar + raisintop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together12,481 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
-
Lemon + raisintop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,742 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
-
Lemon + sugartop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together53,532 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
-
Raisin + cucumbertop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together40 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Lemon and sugar barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 53,532 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Cucumber
- Forms the bulk of the chutney and gives it its fresh, soft-textured body.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps preserve the chutney and balance its acidity.
- Lemon juice
- Adds acidity that brightens the flavour and helps preserve the chutney.
- Raisins
- Add concentrated sweetness and chewy texture as they soften during cooking.
The step that matters
Cook until soft. Cooking the cucumber with sugar and lemon juice must go far enough to soften the pieces and fully dissolve the sugar, so the chutney sets to a spoonable texture and stays preserved in the jars.
Swap the cucumber
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (lemon, sugar, raisin):
- Arrowrootfits better
- Sweet potatofits better
- Shallotfits better
- Cucumberthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against lemon, sugar, raisin. 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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