Medlar Chutney is a traditional British recipe for classic chutney (savoury fruit and vegetable preserve) made from that most unusual of fruit, the medlar combined with apples and dates with Indian-style spices. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic British version of: Medlar Chutney.
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Experimenting with Christmas mincemeat and pudding recipes I noticed that bletted medlars make an excellent substitute for figs in terms of flavour (and are without the seeds) so I thought I could adapt a fig-based chutney to use medlars instead.
Ingredients:
600g (1 1/3 lbs) medlar pulp
500g (1 lb) cooking apples (I used Bramleys)
100g (3 ½ oz) medjool dates
One medium onion, chopped finely
700ml (2 ½ cups) malt vinegar
100g (3 ½ oz) sultanas
2 tbs crushed coriander
1 tbs crushed mustard seeds
Thumb-sized piece of fresh ginger, grated
2 tbs garam masala
1 tsp chilli powder
½ tsp ground allspice
750g brown sugar
Method:
Combine all the ingredients apart from the sugar in a large pan, just to a boil, reduce to a simmer and cook, stirring frequently, until the ingredients are soft (about 25-30 minutes). During this time, top up the vinegar as needed, if the mixture is becoming too thick.
When the fruit is soft add the brown sugar and continue to cook until there is no surface liquid and you can see the bottom of the pan when stirring with the spoon. Take off the heat and allow to cool slightly then put into warm, sterilised jars (I heat mine for 20 minutes in an oven at 90°C). I had enough mixture to fill half a dozen variously-sized jars.
Seal immediately, and allow to cool completely then store in a cool, dry, cupboard. Once opened store in the refrigerator. This results in a sweet, rich, subtly spiced, chutney that goes spectacularly well with cheese, especially blue cheeses.
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