Plum chutneys

Plums, before

Plums, after

Our plum tree is getting too big for us to be able to harvest all the fruit. We picked what we could reach, and there's still about 3/4 left. This year tried a couple of different things as well as the usual chutney.

Spicy plum chutney ingredients

• 1.5kg stoned weight plums
• 150 ml rice vinegar
• 350ml red wine vinegar
• 4 tablespoons nam pla
• 800g granulated sugar
• 200g muscovado sugar 
• 5 teaspoons crushed dried chilli flakes
• 1 large cinnamon stick
• 6 crushed garlic cloves
• 100g ginger, grated
• 2 teaspoons salt

How to make spicy plum chutney

1. Put everything in a very large pan - preferably a preserving pan
2. Bring to the boil then simmer for about 3 hours, till the chutney is thick
3. Turn off the heat and allow the chutney to cool slightly
4. Pot into sterilized jars while still warm

Not so spicy plum chutney ingredients

1kg plums, stoned weight
500g onions, roughly chopped
350g light brown sugar
2 garlic cloves, crushed
2 teaspoons grated ginger
2 teaspoons ground cloves
2 teaspoons salt
pinch cayenne pepper
500ml cider vinegar

Cook as for spicy plum chutney above.

I also made 3x70cl plum gin, which will be ready for Christmas, a tangy plum sauce which I had in crispy duck pancakes, and some preserved plums, which I used in plum and chocolate brownies.