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Chutney, English

A sweet and spicy apple chutney made with apples, sugar, salt, raisins, ginger, chilies, mustard seed, onions, shallots, and vinegar.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 10 ingredients
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Why it works: Mustard and shallot match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 859 recipes. Both carry eucalyptol, which smells eucalyptus, herbal. The science ↓

Chutney, English

Ingredients

Directions

Make the syrup

  1. Dissolve the salt and sugar in the vinegar, then strain and return it to a stewpan.

Cook the chutney

  1. Add the sliced apples, onions, ginger, cleaned sultanas, and the remaining ingredients.

  2. Cook gently until the apples and onions are tender.

Jar and store

  1. Pour into small jars or wide-necked bottles.

  2. When cold, cover tightly and store in a cool, dry place.

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.

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. Mustard + shallottop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together859 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  2. Mustard + oniontop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together9,259 recipes

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

  3. Ginger + shallottop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together565 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  4. Onion + shallottop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,431 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  5. Ginger + oniontop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together7,595 recipes

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

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

What each ingredient does

Sour apples
Their acidity and pectin help the chutney thicken and keep a sharp, bright flavour.
Brown sugar
Adds sweetness and moisture, and balances the sharpness of the vinegar and apples.
Malt vinegar
Provides the acid that preserves the chutney and gives it its tang.
Sultana raisins
Add chewy texture and concentrated sweetness as the chutney cooks down.
Spanish onions
Soften during gentle cooking, adding body and savoury depth.
Bird's-eye chilies
Add heat and a sharp, fresh bite to the chutney.

The step that matters

Cook gently until the apples and onions are tender. Gentle heat lets the apples and onions soften and release pectin without scorching the sugar, which would make the chutney taste bitter and burnt. Stirring keeps the bottom from catching.

Swap the apple

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, raisin, ginger, mustard, onion, shallot, malt):

  1. Limefits better
  2. Lemonfits better
  3. Cherryfits better
  4. Applethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, raisin, ginger, mustard, onion, shallot, malt. 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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