Name: 71 Apple and Green Tomato Chutney
Ingredients: 4 cups brown sugar 3-4 cups lemon juice 1-2 cups water 2 qts; 4 cups lemon juice 1-2 cups water 2 qts; 2 cups water 2 qts; 1/2 cup salt grind tomatoes through food chopper; 2 qts; 3 cups; 1 large onion chopped 1/3 - 1/2 cup salt grind tomatoes through food chopper; 6 hrs

Why it works: Tomato and onion are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 20,633 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

71 Apple and Green Tomato Chutney

Ingredients

4 cups brown sugar 3-4 cups lemon juice 1-2 cups water 2 qts
4 cups lemon juice 1-2 cups water 2 qts
2 cups water 2 qts
1/2 cup salt grind tomatoes through food chopper
2 qts
3 cups
1 large onion chopped 1/3 - 1/2 cup salt grind tomatoes through food chopper
6 hrs

Directions

Prepare

Grind tomatoes through a food chopper.
Drain the tomatoes.
Pour cold water over the tomatoes and drain again after 1 hour.
Mix all ingredients together.
Let the mixture stand in a stone jar overnight.

Cook

In the morning, place the jar in a kettle of cold water with something underneath to keep it from the bottom of the kettle.
Heat the water to boiling.
Cook for 6 hours, stirring occasionally.
May cook carefully in a preserving kettle on a pad or ring.

Seal

Seal the jars.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

127Calories

3 gProtein

0 gFat

31 gCarbs

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
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Tomato	1 medium (123g)	22
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.

By Evora Bucknum Perkins. Recipe from a historical cookbook (Project Gutenberg).

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.

Tomato + oniontop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together20,633 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Lemon + tomatotop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together4,592 recipes

Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
Sugar + lemontop 18% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together53,532 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Lemon + oniontop 19% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together15,646 recipes

Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Sugar + tomatotop 33% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together4,667 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

Sugar and lemon 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

Tomatoes: Make up the bulk of the chutney and supply its body and moisture.
Brown sugar: Adds sweetness and helps the chutney thicken as it cooks down.
Lemon juice: Adds acidity that brightens the flavor and helps preserve the chutney.

The step that matters

Keep the jar off the bottom of the kettle during the 6-hour cook. Sugar-rich mixtures scorch when they sit directly on hot metal for hours. A pad or rack under the jar keeps the heat gentler and more even, so the chutney cooks down without burning.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, lemon, tomato):

Capsicumfits better
Okrafits better
Cucumberfits better
Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, lemon, tomato. 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.

Lemon Cake228 recipes

Lemon Ice147 recipes

Lemon Sherbet103 recipes

Lemon Custard64 recipes

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71 Apple and Green Tomato Chutney