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Indian Chutney

A fruit and pepper chutney made with apples, onions, peppers, raisins, vinegar, sugar, lemon juice, ginger, cayenne, and salt.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 11 ingredients
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Indian Chutney

Why it works: Apple and cider are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,238 recipes. Both carry 1-octen-3-one, which smells mushroom, metallic. The science ↓

Indian Chutney

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Chop the apples, onion, and peppers very finely.

Cook

  1. Add the vinegar and simmer for 1 hour, stirring often.

  2. Add the remaining ingredients and cook for an additional 30 minutes, stirring constantly.

Jar

  1. Seal in sterile jars.

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. Apple + cidertop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,238 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).

  2. Pepper + lemontop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together27,047 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

  3. Cider + vinegartop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,431 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4-ethyl-2-methoxyphenol (smoky, clove).

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

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

  5. Apple + raisintop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,920 recipes

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

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

What each ingredient does

Apples
Provide the bulk of the chutney and body as they soften and break down during cooking.
Cider vinegar
Adds acidity that sharpens the flavor and helps keep the chutney stable.
Sugar
Adds sweetness that balances the acidity and helps thicken the chutney as water evaporates.
Raisins
Add sweetness and a chewy texture that contrasts with the soft fruit.
Lemons
Their juice adds bright acidity that balances the sugar.
Onion
Adds savory depth and body as it cooks down into the chutney.

The step that matters

Stir constantly during the final 30 minutes. Once the sugar and raisins go in, the mixture thickens quickly as water evaporates. Sugar-rich mixtures can scorch on the bottom of the pan, which gives a burnt taste.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (apple, pepper, raisin, cider, vinegar, sugar, lemon):

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

Fit is the average pairing score against apple, pepper, raisin, cider, vinegar, sugar, 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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