Chutney is a kind of sweet and sour sauce native to Hindu culture. Its appearance and texture are similar to syrup or jam. This extraordinary food is a mixture of fruits, herbs, vegetables, sugar, and different condiments that make this dish a bomb of exotic flavors.
There are different types of chutney recipes, each family in India has its secrets, and also, as it has become an international product, the recipes vary even more. However, today we will make a spectacular chutney recipe using an exotic fruit from the same continent as the main ingredient, the kumquat.
Requirements to make a kumquat chutney
This fabulous fruit will be the basis of this rich sauce, which will have a taste between sweet and spicy. We will need a series of instructions, implements and ingredients to materialize this rich, practical and straightforward recipe.
Next, we recommend taking all the notes and getting your hands to work.
Preparation time: 25 minutes
Cooking time: 20 minutes
Ingredients:
- 1/2 kg kumquat
- 1 clove of garlic
- 1 medium onion
- 100 ml lemon or kumquat juice
- 100 ml apple cider vinegar
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 400 g brown sugar
- 1 piece of fresh ginger
- Salt
- Pepper
- A tablespoon of butter
- 2 tablespoons hot sauce (whichever you like the most)
Kitchen materials:
- Medium-sized pot or pan
- Medium container
- Grater
- Wooden pallet
- Chopping board
- Chopping knife
- Mortar
- Glass jar
Step by step
Step 1: Sterilize the bottles
Wash the jars and lids with soap and plenty of water, then insert them in a pot with water and place it on the stove over medium heat. When it boils, leave it for a few minutes, turn it off, let it stand for about 10 minutes, and finally dry the jars and place them in a dry and clean place until we need them.
Step 2: Cut the kumquats
Wash the kumquats very well, then cut them in half with a longitudinal cut, remove all the seeds and place them in a separate container to get rid of them. After taking the bones out of the fruits, we will cut them in half again, but this time the cut will be horizontal; in this way, we will take out four pieces of each kumquat.
Step 3: Mix the kumquats and sugar
We will proceed to insert all the pieces of kumquats into a medium-sized container, then add the sugar and mix the two ingredients very well with the wooden pallet, which we will let stand for about 20 minutes.
Step 4: Prepare the other ingredients
Simultaneously, we will cut the onion into small squares and grate the garlic clove and the fresh ginger. Then, finally, we will take the mortar and crush the cinnamon sprig very well until it is fully ground.
Step 5: Integrate all ingredients
We will take the pot or pan and place it on the stove with medium heat. When we see that the pan is hot, we add the butter, wait until it melts, and we will add the ginger and grated garlic. We want it to look brown, not burn.
When the garlic and ginger are brown, we will add the onion, a little salt and pepper to taste, mix the ingredients very well and sauté the onion until golden.
Then we will add the ground cinnamon, which will give a fragrant smell and a contrast of flavor to our rich sauce. Finally, when the onion is transparent and the butter begins to dry, it is time to add the kumquat and the sugar already dissolved on step 3.
We will also add the apple cider vinegar and lemon or kumquat juice
and last but not least, add the spicy, then stir very well and let cook.
Step 6: Cooking the kumquat chutney
We will mix with the wooden palette to integrate each ingredient very well. As it cooks, we will notice how our kumquat chutney is becoming more and more compact; we recommend that we crush only a little the most significant pieces of kumquat with the same palette, so the sauce looks more uniform.
We will stir the mixture with the palette from time to time while it is simmered until the sauce is ready, and we will realize that when the texture and consistency of it are like that of a jam or a syrup.
When that happens, you can enjoy a delicious kumquat chutney, which you can accompany with some food, such as meats, and even spread it on bread or cookies and create a different and tasty snack.
Frequently asked questions
Should the shell be removed from kumquats to make the chutney?
Not really, since the shell provides two things besides vitamins and nutrients; Pectin is a natural thickener found in the skin of kumquats, which gives chutney that firm consistency like a compote. [1]
In addition, the skin of the kumquat is the sweetest part of the fruit, while its pulp has a taste between bitter and acidic, which gives a much more distinguished flavor to this sauce.
Can cinnamon powder replace cinnamon sprigs?
The taste of cinnamon powder and cinnamon stick is the same. If you want to replace cinnamon sprigs with cinnamon powder, you can do it, but to preserve the smell and properties of cinnamon, we recommend using its sprigs.
How can the homemade kumquat chutney last longer?
A method preserves the kumquat chutney for up to a year while in an uncapped jar without using artificial or chemical preservatives. However, if you uncover it for use, with this method, it can be kept for three months, as long as it is refrigerated.
This fantastic method is called “Vacuum or Void Effect” and consists in that when the kumquat chutney is inserted into the glass jars, a finger of the pot must be left unfilled, that is, not filled to the top, but leave a finger of vacuum.
Then you should close the bottle as tight as possible and place it upside down for about 20 minutes. After those minutes, you can store your kumquat chutney without worries and with the security that it will remain preserved for an extended period.
[1] https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0308814607005444