Chetney Sauce

Chetney Sauce is a traditional British recipe, based on Eliza Acton's recipe of 1845, for a classic Victorian Indian-inspired store sauce of a sour fruit base blended with raisins, sugar, ginger, cayenne pepper, vinegar and garlic. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic British version of: Chetney Sauce.

prep time

10 minutes

cook time

10 minutes

Total Time:

20 minutes

Additional Time:

(+2 weeks maturing)

Serves:

4

Rating:

Tags : Sauce RecipesVegetarian RecipesSpice RecipesBritish Recipes

This is a traditional British recipe redacted from Eliza Acton's 1845 volume Modern Cookery, the first classic Victorian cookbook.

Original Recipe

CHETNEY SAUCE.
(Bengal Receipt).

     Stone four ounces of good raisins, and chop them small, with half a pound of crabs, sour apples, unripe bullaces, or of any other hard acid fruit. Take four ounces of coarse brown sugar, two of powdered ginger, and the same quantity of salt and cayenne pepper ; grind these ingredients separately in a mortar, as fine as possible ; then pound the fruits well, and mix the spices with them, one by one; beat them together until they are perfectly blended, and add gradually as much vinegar as will make the sauce of the consistence of thick cream. Put it into bottles with an ounce of garlic, divided into cloves, and cork it tightly.

     Stoned raisins, 4 oz.; crabs, or other acid fruit, 1/2 lb.; coarse sugar, 4 oz.; powdered ginger, 2 oz.; salt, 2 oz.; cayenne pepper, 2 oz.; garlic, 1 oz.; vinegar, enough to dilute it properly.

     Obs.—This favourite oriental sauce is compounded in a great variety of ways; but some kind of acid fruit is essential to it. The mango is used in India; here gooseberries, while still hard and green, are sometimes used for it; and ripe red chillies and tomatas are mixed with the other ingredients. The sauce keeps better if it be exposed to a gentle degree of heat for a week or two, either by the side of the fire, or in a full southern aspect in the sun : the heat of a very slow oven, in which it might be left for a night, would probably have a still better effect. In this case, it must be put into a jar or bottles, and well secured from the air. Half a pound of gooseberries, or of these and tamarinds from the shell, and green apples mixed, and the same weight of salt, stoned raisins, brown sugar, powdered ginger, chilies, and garlic, with a pint and a half of vinegar, and the juice of three large lemons, will make another genuine Bengal chetney.

Modern Redaction

In essence this is a verjuice (sour fruit juice) that is slightly sweetened and flavoured with ginger, cayenne pepper and garlic and which is an ideal flavouring for sauces to accompany fatty meats and fowl. You can also add a dash of this to your favourite curry recipe.

Ingredients:

125g seedless raisins, finely chopped
225g of green (unripe) mangoes (or substitute crab apples or Bramley apples)
120g brown sugar
60g ground ginger
60g salt
60g cayenne pepper
150ml (about), vinegar
30g garlic cloves

Method:

Pound the raisins in a mortar until you have a smooth pulp. Peel and pit the mangoes (peel and core the apples if using) then grate the flesh of the fruit, add to the mortar and pound until completely smooth.

If the sugar is coarse, pound it with the salt in a mortar then work into the fruit flesh along with the ginger and cayenne pepper.

Work the mixture until smooth then mix in enough of the vinegar to give you a pouring consistency like that of double cream.

Pour the mixture into sterilized bottles and add the garlic cloves. Stopper securely then place in full sunshine (a south-facing window is good) for 2 weeks. After this time, process in a boiling water bath for 2 hours and store until needed. Keep in the refrigerator when opened.

Find more Eliza Acton Recipes Here and more Traditional Victorian Recipes Here.