Spicy deep purple Plum Chutney

I'm running out of time! There are still so many plum recipes I want to write about but the local blue fruits are almost at the end of their season. This recipe is one of my classic preserves, a spicy deep purple plum chutney.

I prepare my chutneys all year round so that my pantry is always filled with plums, rhubarb and apples. I try a few others once in a while but these three are my standards, the ones that I can't, or don't want to, live without. I have special combinations with each of them and the plum chutney is my favourite for cold roasts or hard mountain cheese. The one that I cook with apples is the strongest of all and it can take even the ripest French camembert!

When I wrote about one of my early sandwiches, a hearty homemade mountain bun stuffed with ham, cheese and plum chutney, I got so many requests for this chutney. I felt a bit bad as I wrote about it in December not thinking that it would take another eight months for plums to be in season again. So here it is, get started and enjoy with whatever comes into your mind. That's great about chutneys, they taste so strong but they work so well in all kinds of unusual combinations!

Spicy Plum Chutney

For a 1 l / 2 pint jar and one small jar you need

• ripe plums, pitted and quartered, 1kg / 2 1/4 pounds

• sour apples, peeled, cored and roughly chopped, 3 (around 300g / 10.5 ounces)

• small red onions, roughly chopped, 3

• apple cider vinegar 350ml / 12 ounces

• balsamic vinegar 50ml / 2 ounces

• granulated sugar 200g /7 ounces

• garlic, chopped, 1 big clove

• fresh ginger, grated, 1 heaping tablespoon

• fresh red hot chili pepper, without seeds, finely chopped, 1

• small dried red chili peppers 2-3

• ground turmeric 1/4 teaspoon

• ground cinnamon 1 teaspoon

• black peppercorns, ground in a mortar, 1/2 teaspoon

• star anise, ground in a mortar, 3 single pieces

• cloves, ground in the mortar, 20

• fennel seeds, ground in a mortar, 1 teaspoon

• spirit to sterilise the rims of the jars

Sterilise the jars in boiling water for 5 minutes.

In a large pot, bring all the ingredients to the boil. Cook the chutney (slightly bubbling) without a lid for about an hour on medium temperature until it thickens. After 30 minutes, check the spiciness, either take out the dried chilies or leave them in till the end if you prefer it more hot, but take them out before you fill the chutney into the jars.

Dip the rim of the sterilised jars in spirit and wash out the lids with the alcohol as well. Fill your jars with the chutney and close well immediately.

You can eat the chutney right away but I prefer to let it sit for at least 3 weeks. You should keep an open jar in the fridge (mine stays fresh for months) and the closed jars in your pantry.