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Chutney
This is an Indian preparation consisting of a mixture of sweet, sour, and hot ingredients. It cannot however, be prepared in England to resemble exactly that which is made in the East, as, of course, the fresh fruits requisite for it cannot be obtained. The principal kinds are known as Madras, Tirhoot, Bengal Club, Mango, Lucknow, and others called after the names of their inventors. They are used as a relish to meat, and are frequently added to curries. A substitute for the real article may be made as follows. Put into a marble mortar four ounces of salt, four ounces of raisins, stoned and minced very finely, three ounces of onions, and three ounces of garlic, also finely minced, two ounces of mustard-seed well bruised, and half an ounce of cayenne pepper. Pound these well, then mix with them very gradually fourteen ounces of sour apples, weighted after they have been pared and cored, and boiled with one pint of strong brown vinegar, and four ounces of sugar. Mix the ingredients thoroughly, bottle the preparation, and cork tightly. The longer this sauce is kept the better it will be. Time to prepare, about one hour and a half. Probable cost, 1s. 3d. per pint. It is used like mustard with cold meat, and for sauces and gravies.
A late-Victorian Anglo-Indian relish: a raw pounded base of salt, raisins, onion, garlic, mustard and cayenne let down with apples cooked in sweetened vinegar. It is closer to a salted pickle paste than to the soft, jammy chutneys sold today, and it is meant to be doled out in teaspoons.
- The salt is not a typoFour ounces of salt against about two pounds of other solids is roughly 10 per cent by weight, which together with a pint of vinegar is what keeps the jar sound in an unrefrigerated Victorian larder. If you scale the salt down you have made a different, much more perishable condiment and it needs to live in the refrigerator and be eaten within a few weeks.
- Strong brown vinegarThis means full-strength British malt vinegar, around 5-6 per cent acetic acid. Cider vinegar is an acceptable stand-in; do not use anything labelled "reduced acidity" or a rice vinegar, as the acid is doing preservative work here.
- Sour applesFourteen ounces (400 g) pared and cored weight of a cooking apple that collapses when boiled: Bramley in Britain, Granny Smith elsewhere. Eating apples give a sweeter, chunkier result and will need less sugar.
- Mortar workThe marble mortar can be a food processor, but pulse rather than puree, and bruise the mustard seed separately so it stays gritty. Pounding the salt with the aromatics draws out moisture and starts the cure, so do that step first as written.
- CayenneHalf an ounce is about 14 g, roughly two and a half level tablespoons of modern cayenne, which is fiercely hot by present standards. Victorian cayenne was liable to adulteration with fillers such as rice flour or salt; starting with a third and tasting after a day of maturing is sensible.
- BottlingCork tightly meant exactly that. Use clean jars with vinegar-proof lids, press the mixture down so no air pockets remain, and refrigerate once opened. This is not a heat-processed preserve, so treat it as a refrigerator pickle rather than a shelf-stable canned good.
- Time and yieldThe hour and a half is mostly chopping and pounding; the apples need only 15-20 minutes in the vinegar and sugar. The flavour genuinely does improve after a month as the raw garlic and onion mellow, as the recipe itself promises.
- How much to serveA teaspoon per plate alongside cold beef or ham, or a spoonful stirred into a gravy at the end, is the intended dose. Cassell's comparison with mustard is the useful one.
The word comes from Hindi chatni, from a root meaning to lick or taste, and the thing itself reached British tables through the East India Company trade, imported relishes being imitated at home once the supply ran out. Several of the names Cassell's lists correspond to known commercial and club chutneys, Bengal Club chutney apparently taking its name from the Calcutta gentlemen's club, and the later Major Grey's belongs to the same family of proprietary Anglo-Indian sauces. The admission that fresh Indian fruits "cannot be obtained" is the honest heart of the entry, and it explains the substitution that came to characterise British chutney: sour cooking apples standing in for green mango, malt vinegar for tamarind or lime.