Can you use malt vinegar in chutney?

Cooks tip 2: I used cider vinegar in this Apple chutney recipe, but it is fine to use malt vinegar or wine vinegar . They will all produce slightly different flavours and it just a matter of personal preference and what you happen to already have in your cupboard.

Is green tomato chutney made from unripe tomatoes?

Make use of end-of-season tomatoes with this sweet and vinegary green tomato chutney made with unripe tomatoes . Can it to enjoy all year long.

What is the best vinegar to use for chutney?

Vinegar used in making chutney must be good quality and have at least 5% acetic acid content. Any good brand white, malt, wine or cider vinegar should possess the correct qualities. Brown sugar is used for darker coloured chutney but where a lighter colour is required granulated sugar is recommended.

What vinegar is closest to malt vinegar?

The most common use of malt vinegar is served with fish and chips. Malt vinegar substitute: Apple cider vinegar or lemon juice are your best options for malt vinegar substitutes.

How do you fix chutney with too much vinegar?

Adding sugar and salt can help reduce the vinegar flavor . Start with the sugar, then add small amounts of salt in between. If that doesn't work (just too much vinegar) you may have to add more of the other ingredients.

How long does tomato chutney last in the fridge?

About The Recipe The first recipe helps you make spicy and hot tomato chutney with pantry staples like tomatoes, garlic, cumin, chilies, oil and salt. You can also store this in the refrigerator for 3 to 4 weeks . The second chutney is the Onion Tomato Chutney which is also delicious, nutty, and spicy and flavorsome.

What's the difference between tomato sauce and chutney?

The texture of this condiment is what primarily distinguishes it from a sauce. Because it is made from slow-cooking fruits and vegetables, chutney often has a chunky yet spreadable consistency and is created similarly to jam. Sauce, on the other hand, is typically much thinner .

Can I use malt vinegar instead of red wine vinegar in chutney?

The sugar can be white or brown, and you can use almost any vinegar under the sun. I would probably steer clear of Balsamic, but apple cider, malt, red wine are all contenders . I'd stick with something on the cheap side though because you're using a lot of it and the flavour will mostly get lost in the shuffle.

What is a substitute for white vinegar in chutney?

Light-bodied rice vinegar is among the most versatile white wine vinegar substitutes. Also called rice wine vinegar, it's made from white, brown, or black rice that's fermented until the sugars and starches turn into alcohol and then acetic acid.

Can I use malt vinegar instead of pickling vinegar?

Malt Vinegar It is particularly good for pickling watery vegetables like onions and cucumbers. Although it can be used for pickling, it has a very strong and distinctive flavour that may overpower the flavour of certain pickled items . As such, those new to pickling may prefer to use a vinegar with a subtler taste.

Can I use malt vinegar instead of cider vinegar?

Finally, “ malt vinegar is another ACV substitute that will provide a less fruity and more yeasty taste to your foods ,” Burdeos says. It can work well in marinades and sauces in addition to salad dressings, though you may want to add some herbs to balance out the yeastiness if using it that way.

Hot & Spicy Courgette Chutney | Moorlands Eater

Hot & Spicy Courgette Chutney is a great way to use up homegrown courgettes or marrow.

Inspired by Indian flavours, the hot, sweet and sour preserve pairs wonderfully with curries, pakora, yogurt and poppadoms as well as cheese and biscuits.

Even if you don’t have a glut of homegrown courgettes, this easy, full-flavoured chutney is so good it’s still worth making with shop bought veggies.

For those who’ve never made chutney before, this post includes a beginner’s guide.

Jump to Recipe

I’m so glad that I can finally tell you about my fab Hot & Spicy Courgette Chutney!

It’s in the nature of chutneys that, when I’ve made a new one, I can’t just say “hey, I created this great recipe and here it is”.

No. What I have to do is:

(a) wait for it to mature, taste how it turns out and decide whether it’s good enough to share.

(b) post the recipe when the main ingredient is coming into season and will be plentiful.

In this particular case, task (a) was completed months ago.

Evidence that it’s time for part (b) is that views of are going through the roof!

I’ve also only ever posted one chutney recipe before and if you look at the comments for my Smoky Tomato Chilli Chutney you’ll see that it went down a storm.

So, it really is time for me to post about this great chutney.

I think you’ll like it whether you’re a keen vegetable gardener or allotment holder with a glut of marrows or courgette, or simpler a shopper who wants to make the most of seasonal vegetables by preserving them.

HOT & SPICY COURGETTE CHUTNEY

The flavours in this chutney are inspired by India.

I wanted it to go well with cheese and biscuits or cold meats like a traditional British chutney.

But I also imagined it being like a mango or brinjal (aubergine) chutney. That means is should be good with curries and dals plus snacks like poppadoms, pakora, Aloo Bonda and Onion Bhaji.

With all that in mind, the flavourings I chose for my Hot & Spicy Courgette Chutney were:

coriander
cumin
cardamom
fresh chillies
dried chilli flakes
garlic
ginger
nigella seeds
turmeric

Of course opinions will vary as to how much chilli constitutes a ‘hot’ chutney.

In the detailed recipe at the end of the post, I recommend that before potting it up you have a taste and add more chilli flakes if you think it needs it.

You’ll have to leave the chutney to mature for at least 6-8 weeks before using it. During that time, it will mellow, so I think it’s best to be bold with the chillies and spices!

BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO CHUTNEY

If this is your first time making chutney, you might be surprised at how easy it is.

Unlike jam making, you don’t need to test for a setting point.

With chutney, there’s just two main things to remember:

HOW TO MAKE HOT & SPICY COURGETTE CHUTNEY

You’ll find full details of how to make the chutney in the recipe card at the end. But, briefly, here’s how it goes.

First toast the whole spices (cumin, coriander and cardamom) in a dry frying pan.

These are then put in your big saucepan along with the rest of the spices plus the other main ingredients (courgette, cooking apple, onion, sultanas, salt, vinegar).

Everything is then boiled until the vegetables and apple are soft. This usually takes 20 – 30 minutes. If you want a smoother texture to your chutney, at this point you can go in with a potato masher and break things up a bit.

Next, sugar is added (this, as well as the vinegar, is what helps to preserve the chutney) and stirred until dissolved.

The final step is to simply let the chutney bubble away until most of the liquid has evaporated.

This can take around an hour but will depend on how vigorous the bubbling was and how much water the vegetables held.

The way to test if the chutney’s ready is to drag a wooden spoon across the bottom of the pot. If no loose liquid runs into the space left behind, then it’s ready to pot up.

POTTING UP

As per my beginner’s guide above, chutney should always be potted up while hot and into hot, clean jars. You can be prepping them while the chutney’s cooking so they’re ready to go as soon as you need them.

When you’ve filled the jars, screw the lids on (protect your hands with a cloth). You don’t need to screw the lids completely tight at this stage – it’s much easier when they’ve cooled a bit.

You should also find that once the jars are completely cold then the lids, if you press the top, no longer spring back. When they don’t do this, you know you’ve an airtight seal.

You can now label your jars and put in a cool dark place and leave to mature for 6-8 weeks. A kitchen cupboard away from the oven or a radiator should be fine.

EATING HOT & SPICY COURGETTE CHUTNEY

This chutney turned out to be everything I’d hoped for it. Spicy, slightly sweet and with a good kick of chilli.

Yes, it was the perfect partner to cheese and biscuits – or my Scottish Oatcakes to be exact.

But, with all those wonderful spices, it was great with Indian flavours too.

Right back when I was coming up with the notion of Hot & Spicy Courgette Chutney, I imagined it paired with yogurt, cucumber and mint, as in raita.

Amazingly, the reality turned out even better than my imaginings!

For a lip-smacking pre-curry starter, I filled mini poppadoms with thick yogurt then topped each one with a good blob of the chutney. On top of that I scattered finely chopped cucumber and mint plus a few Aleppo pepper flakes.

Ingredients

1tbspcumin seed
0.5tbspcoriander seed
10cardamom podsseeds taken out and hulls discarded
1.5kgcourgettes or marrow (weight before preparing)peeled, deseeded if necessary, diced small
2cooking applespeeled, cored, diced small
2mediumonionspeeled, roughly chopped
250gsultanasleft whole or roughly chopped
2-4chilliesfinely chopped (seeds in or out as preferred)
1headgarlicpeeled, finely chopped or grated
20gginger rootpeeled, finely chopped or grated
0.5tbspnigella seeds
3tspdried chilli flakes
2tspsalt
1tspground turmeric
900mlvinegare.g. white or red wine, cider or distilled vinegar
175gsugar

Instructions

Put the cumin, coriander and cardamom seeds in a small frying pan and put over moderately high heat.
Stir regularly until toasted and fragrant.
Remove from the pan and lightly crush using a pestle and mortar or with a rolling pin.
Put all the ingredients, including the toasted spices BUT NOT THE SUGAR into large, wide saucepan.
Bring to a boil then turn down the heat and simmer until the courgette or marrow, apples and onions are soft (20-30 min).
Take the saucepan off the heat.
Optional: for a less chunky consistency, lightly break down with a potato masher.
While it's simmering
Wash 4 jars and their lids in hot soapy water, rinse and drain them. Preheat your oven to its lowest setting.
Add the sugar and stir until dissolved.
Put the saucepan back on the heat and bring to a boil.
Continue to cook, uncovered and stirring regularly (careful: it may splutter!), until there’s no loose liquid when a wooden spoon is drawn across the bottom of the pot (approx. 1 hour).
While the chutney's cooking
Put the prepared jars and lids onto a baking tray and place in the preheated oven. Turn off the oven when the jars are hot, but leave them inside until you're ready to pot the finished chutney.
Tip: before potting up, taste the chutney and add more chilli flakes if you want it hotter (remember that flavours will mellow as it matures).
Pot the chutney into clean, warm jars. Protecting your hands with a cloth, immediately put on the lids and leave to cool.
When cold, tighten the lids a little more if possible, label and leave to mature for 6-8 weeks. See Recipes Notes on checking for an airtight seal.
Should keep for at least a year in a dark, cool place.

Recipe Notes

When the jars of chutney are completely cold, check for an airtight seal by pressing down in the centre of the lid.

If the centre does not pop back up then you have an airtight seal. If the centre pops back up then you have 2 options:

Store the chutney in the fridge and use within 7-10 days.
Re-boil the chutney and prepare the jars and lids as before. Pot up again while the chutney and jars are hot. Test for an airtight seal as above when cold.

Hot & Spicy Courgette Chutney | Moorlands Eater | Recipes (2024)