Spicy Blackcurrant Chutney

2013 Chutney – Spicy Blackcurrant 

  • 920g blackcurrants
  • 220g onion
  • 400 ml vinegar (approx. 100ml balsamic 100ml white wine 200ml malt)
  • 450 g soft brown sugar
  • 3 tsp cinamon
  • 2 tsp ginger
  • 1 tsp fresh ground black pepper
  • 3 tsp salt
  • 2 tsp of whole allspice, ground a bit

We had an awful lot of Blackcurrant here this year. I’ve already made – Wine, Creme-de-Cassis, lots of Jam and cordial and fancied something else. I had an idea for a spicy blackcurrant chutney, something to go with the cold meats at Christmas. Warm Christmasy spices with a fruity mix. There’s a few recipes on the internet for blackcurrant chutney and I’m pretty sure it’s quite hard to get wrong if the fruit:sugar:vinegar ratios are about right so taking some inspiration* I gave it a go.

Method: Generic Chutney Method

Making Notes: Colour lovely. Smells like Christmas. Taste’s very cinammony, I think it will mellow. I’ll update when we try it.

UPDATE 2 years later! 

The Blackcurrant chutney is interesting – it’s taken 2 years of ageing to mellow the flavour. We tried it periodically over the last couple of years and yesterday I tested it out on the extended family with fairly positive results. It’s a good flavour, sweet but with a fruity / citrus finish. Very much a sweet and sour flavours. It’s unusually and definitely wasn’t ready in the first year of making – the flavours were too harsh. So I would recommend it but only if you leave it to rest for a couple of years first.

*Recipes I looked at first – http://www.selfsufficientish.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=826, http://marttherev.wordpress.com/2011/12/28/blackcurrant-relish/, http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/harvest/msg0815193912345.html, http://bealtainecottage.com/tag/blackcurrant-chutney/