Plum
Chutney
This is a wonderful spicy chutney that goes well with cheese. You'll need:
- 1 kg plums
- 400g light brown sugar
- 650ml malt or white wine vinegar
- 6 garlic cloves, chopped
- 4 large yellow chillies, chopped
- 1 cinnamon stick
- ½ tsp allspice powder
- ¼ tsp ground cloves
- 1 tsp cumin seeds.
Cut the plums in half and remove the stones. Place in a saucepan with the chillies, garlic and 75ml of water. Bring to the boil, then reduce heat and simmer.
When the plums are soft, add the sugar, cinnamon and vinegar. Bring to the boil again, and simmer until nearly all of the liquid had evaporated.
When the mixture is thick and stiff, add the allspice, cloves and cumin seeds. Pour into sterilised jars and leave to mature for a month.
A distinction must be drawn between foraging and the old cromptonesque crime of scrumping. Stealing chives from neighbours’ window boxes is expressly against the forager’s code, and those that do that sort of thing ought to be thoroughly ashamed of themselves. However, there is a grey area; large trees whose branches reach over garden fences and deposit their fruit on the street below. Patches of pavement are often stained with the juice of delicious cherries, plums and such like which are normally left to rot or be trod under foot. We say, let’s gather them up and scoff them..