Asian Recipes

Asian Recipes Blog

The Unrivaled Practical Guide for Asian Cooking

Can we use any type of preserving pan for making chutney?

Only stainless-steel or aluminum pans should be used for chutney. Copper pans, which transmit heat quickly, are good for making sweet jam but not for soaking fruit or making preserves such as chutney that contain vinegar, as the acids react with the metal.

** Asian Recipes **

13:04:40 on 10/16/06 by Webmaster - Quick Cooking Tips -

Tomato and red pepper chutney recipe

Makes: about 1 kg

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon yellow mustard seeds
1 tablespoon black peppercorns
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 bay leaf
1 kg ripe tomatoes, skinned and roughly chopped
4 shallots, chopped
3 red peppers, seeded and chopped
4 cloves garlic, crushed
600 ml white wine vinegar
185 g (1 cup) light brown sugar
Grated rind and juice of 1 lemon
1 tablespoon salt

Method:
Put the flavorings in a piece of muslin and tie up to make a pouch. Put the tomatoes, shallots, red peppers and garlic into a stainless-steel preserving pan and add the vinegar, sugar, lemon rind and juice, and the salt. Push in the muslin bag containing the flavorings and cook gently, stirring all the while, until the sugar has dissolved.

Bring the mixture to the boil, then simmer gently, uncovered, for 1 3/4 to 2 1/4 hours or until the chutney has reduced and thickened, stirring occasionally. The chutney is ready when a wooden spoon run along the bottom of the pan leaves a line that remains clear for a few seconds.

Remove the muslin bag from the pan. While the chutney is still very hot, spoon it into warm, sterilized jars. Cover each jar of chutney with a waxed disc, then seal it at once with a nonmetallic or plastic-coated lid. When the chutney has cooled, label the jars and store them for a month in a cool, dark, dry place to allow the flavors to mature. Once opened, consume within a month.

** Asian Online Recipes **

11:45:23 on 10/16/06 by Webmaster - Recipes -

When chutney developed mold, what could have gone wrong?

The most likely explanation is that not enough vinegar was used, as this is the ingredient that preserves the chutney against spoilage. There needs to be at least 1 liter of vinegar to every 3 kg of fruit and vegetables. Other possible causes of mold are under-cooking the mixture, so it retains too much moisture, or the use of unsterilized jars.

Chutney with mold growing on its surface should not be eaten, as the mold may have produced toxins within the entire jar.

** Asian Recipes **

08:22:10 on 10/16/06 by Webmaster - Questions and Answers -

How to prepare and sterilize jars to store chutney?

Wash them in warm soapy water, then put them in a pan of boiling water for 10 minutes. You can also sterilize jars in the microwave: half fill them with cold water, then heat them on High for about 3 minutes or until the water boils. Whichever method you use, then put the jars upside-down in an oven preheated to 140 degrees C and leave them to dry for 10 minutes.

The jars must be clean, dry and warm when the hot chutney is added. As soon as you have filled the jar, cover the chutney with a waxed disc and seal with a glass, plastic or plastic-coated lid. Do not use bare metal as the vinegar in the chutney would corrode it.

** Asian Online Recipes **

07:25:38 on 10/16/06 by Webmaster - Questions and Answers -