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Dessert

Indian Chutney

A sweet and spicy chutney made from apples, pineapple, ginger, cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, sultanas, brown sugar, vinegar, and water.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 10 ingredients
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Indian Chutney

Why it works: Cinnamon and clove match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,189 recipes. Both carry ethyl cinnamate, which smells sweet, balsamic. The science ↓

Indian Chutney

Ingredients

Directions

  1. Make a syrup with 3 pints of water and boil the apples until half done.

  2. Add the pineapples, preserved ginger, cardamom seeds, cinnamon, ground cloves, and sultanas.

  3. Finally, add the brown vinegar.

  4. Boil until the mixture thickens.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it

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. Cinnamon + clovetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together14,189 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).

  2. Cardamom + cinnamontop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,299 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  3. Cardamom + clovetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,114 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  4. Ginger + cardamomtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,114 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  5. Ginger + cinnamontop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together6,380 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

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

What each ingredient does

Green apples
Provide the bulk of the chutney and break down during boiling to give body.
Brown sugar
Adds sweetness and helps thicken the chutney as it reduces.
Sultanas
Add concentrated sweetness and chewy texture.
Pineapples
Add tropical sweetness and juicy texture to the chutney.
Brown vinegar
Adds acidity that balances the sweetness and helps preserve the chutney.

The step that matters

Boil until the mixture thickens. Chutney sets as water evaporates and the pectin in the apples and fruit thickens the mixture. Stopping too early leaves it runny, while over-boiling can scorch the sugar on the bottom of the pan.

Swap the pineapple

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (apple, ginger, cardamom, cinnamon, clove, sugar, vinegar):

  1. Pearfits better
  2. Orangefits better
  3. Figfits better
  4. Pineapplethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against apple, ginger, cardamom, cinnamon, clove, sugar, vinegar. 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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