Why it works: Garlic and onion match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 29,058 recipes. Both carry furaneol, which smells caramel, strawberry. The science ↓
72 Brother Coates’ Mother’s Chutney
Ingredients
Directions
Chop fruit fine, boil in ½ the lemon juice and water with the sugar.
Chop onions, shallots and garlic fine, mix with salt and remaining lemon juice and water and add to boiling fruit.
Cook well together and put into jars.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
Counts 7 of 8 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume: 7 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Grape | 1/2 cup (76g) | 62 |
| Sugar | 1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated | 49 |
| Onion | 1 medium (110g) | 44 |
| Lemon | juice of 1 lemon (48ml) | 12 |
| Clove | 1 tsp ground (2g) | 7 |
| Garlic | 1 clove (3g) | 4 |
| Salt | 1 tsp (6g) | 0 |
| Fruit | 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.
-
Garlic + oniontop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together29,058 recipes
Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
-
Garlic + shallottop 4% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together2,000 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
-
Clove + shallottop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together1,677 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
-
Shallot + lemontop 6% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together2,523 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
-
Onion + shallottop 8% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together2,431 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Brown sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps thicken the chutney as it cooks down.
- Raisins
- Add sweetness and chewy texture as they soften in the simmering liquid.
- Onion
- Forms the savoury base and adds bulk, mellowing in flavour as it cooks.
- Garlic
- Contributes a sharp aroma that softens and mellows during long cooking.
- Shallots
- Add a milder onion flavour with a subtle sweetness when cooked.
- Lemon juice
- Provides acidity that brightens the flavour and balances the sweetness.
The step that matters
Cook well together. Chutney needs a long, gentle simmer so the fruit and vegetables soften and the liquid reduces to a thick consistency. Undercooked onion and garlic stay sharp and raw-tasting, and a watery chutney may spoil sooner in jars.
Swap the raisin
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, clove, garlic, onion, shallot, lemon):
- Limefits better
- Avocadofits better
- Cherryfits better
- Raisinthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, clove, garlic, onion, shallot, lemon. 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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