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Dessert

Apple Chutney

A sweet and spicy apple chutney made with apples, ginger, sultanas, mustard seed, chilis, salt, brown sugar, vinegar, and onions.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 9 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 ↓

Apple Chutney

Ingredients

Directions

  1. Pare and core the apples, then cut them into slices.

  2. Slice the onions.

  3. Combine all ingredients in a pot.

  4. Boil for two hours, stirring occasionally.

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

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  3. Mustard + vinegartop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together14,067 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  4. Apple + gingertop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,424 recipes

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

  5. Ginger + mustardtop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,456 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

Apples
Provide the bulk and pectin that thicken the chutney as it cooks.
Brown sugar
Adds sweetness and, as it caramelises slightly, deepens the colour and flavour.
Vinegar
Supplies acidity that sharpens the flavour and helps preserve the chutney.
Sultanas
Add concentrated sweetness and chewy texture as they plump in the simmer.
Shallots or onions
Contribute savoury depth and body as they soften during the long boil.

The step that matters

Boil for two hours, stirring occasionally. Long simmering evaporates water and softens the fruit so the mixture thickens into a spreadable chutney. Occasional stirring prevents sugars and solids from scorching on the base of the pot, which would leave a burnt taste.

Swap the apple

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

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

Fit is the average pairing score against ginger, mustard, sugar, vinegar, shallot. 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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