This blueberry chutney is along the same line as Major Grey’s chutney. That is, it has fruit, onions, ginger, sugar, vinegar, and warm spices. The flavor profile is very complex, but the fruit remains the star of the dish. Note, Major Grey’s chutney is a very British adaptation of Indian cuisine. In Indian Cooking from My Mom, Rupen Rao has recipes for eight chutneys. None of them are similar to Major Grey’s in any way. Major Grey’s chutney uses mango as the starring fruit. Here we use blueberries. I have also used this formula with peaches, tomatoes and muscadine grapes. If you’ve looked at my Peach Chutney post, this may all sound familiar. Much has been copy/pasted.
This is a super simple condiment to make. Literally, put all the ingredients into a pot and cook it until it’s oozy and jam-like. It does take some patience. Depending on how aggressive you are with the heat, it will take at least 30 minutes, if not an hour. You must stir fairly often, to prevent sticking on the bottom of the pan. If you are more aggressive with the heat, it will cook faster, but you’ll also have to pay more attention to the stirring.
Once you’ve made up your blueberry chutney, what do you do with it? I think the best pairing is with pork. This is a great condiment when you are grilling. It adds a gourmet flourish to a simple hot dog. It also works great with grilled brats, pork chops or tenderloin. Of course, it goes with chicken, but what doesn’t. Including it on a cheese plate is a great idea, or make it a sweet-savory surprise in a grilled cheese sandwich. It pairs quite well with the rich flavor of duck breast. But, I wouldn’t use it on fish. That’s more in the wheelhouse of Peach Chutney.
Another great thing is that blueberry chutney freezes well. As the opening photo depicts, I like to stash a couple 4 ounce jars of it in the freezer to remind me of July during the middle of winter.
Blueberry Chutney
Ingredients
- 1 pound blueberries (about 2 pints)
- 1 inch knob of ginger root (about 15 grams) finely grated
- 1 small onion (about 4 ounces) finely diced
- ⅓ cup sugar
- ½ cup apple cider vinegar
- ½ tsp garam masala
- ¼ tsp salt
Instructions
- Combine all of the ingredients in a sauce pot over medium-high heat.
- Simmer and stir regularly, using a wooden spatula to scrape up anything that is sticking to the bottom of the pot and a silicon spatula to re-incorporate what sticks to the side of the pot. The blueberries will loose their form, the onions will soften and take on the color of the blueberries. As the water content steams off, the chutney will thicken. You must stir more often as the chutney thickens.
- The chutney is ready when you can swipe a path on the bottom of the pot and the chutney does not flow back to fill the gap.
Notes
- This recipe produces about a cup and a half of chutney.
- Garam masala is a type of curry powder. It incorporates common curry powder ingredients such as cumin, coriander and cardamom, but it is characterized by warm spices such as cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg. If you don't have garam marsala, simply substitute cinnamon, or a combination of cinnamon and nutmeg, or a pumpkin pie spice blend.
- I usually use a microplane to grate the ginger, so it's flavor is evenly distributed and there are no little bites of ginger. Mincing with a chef's knife works as well, but the texture of the ginger will be detectable and they will provide little bursts of flavor. Both methods are interesting, just different.
