Plum Chutney with Tamarind

Making jams and chutneys is one of the great pleasures of late Summer/ early Autumn

This year there have been lots of plums; but it seems like there is a very short window in which to pick and use them before they turn mushy and the bugs and wasps move in. Fortunately for us, our lovely neighbours had more plums than they knew what to do with so they gave us lots. We made this tangy chutney and there was enough to give them a jar too.

2kg ripe plums

2 tabs cold-pressed sunflower oil

250ml agave

1/2 cup soft light brown sugar

3 tsps Himalayan pink salt

2 tabs powdered ginger

2" of cinnamon stick

2 tps compound hing

1 tsp tamarind concentrate

1 large dried bayleaf

6 whole cloves

• Wash, stone and halve the plums and set aside.
• Heat the oil in a sturdy, shallow pan and add the hing, ginger, bayleaf, cloves and cinnamon. Stir briefly.
• Add the plums and simmer.
• When they are just beginning to break down, add the salt, agave, sugar and tamarind. 
• Cook until reduced to a chutney-like consistency (this doesn't take too long).
• When the chutney is cooked, removed the cloves, cinnamon and bayleaf before bottling in sterilised jars. Keeps for at least two weeks in the fridge.

What fruits grow abundantly where you live? Do you ever swap produce with your neighbours?