Make Ahead

Rhubarb Chutney

April 28, 2010
4.8
4 Ratings
  • Serves about 5 cups
Author Notes

I love the sweet-sour-spicy combination found so often in South Asian food, and a chutney—originally “chatni” in Hindi—is a perfect example. I’ve added some classic Indian flavors to complement the tart rhubarb: cumin, coriander, ginger and fresh tumeric. Fresno chiles and dried sour cherries both enhance the deep red color. Try this chutney with roast pork, grilled lamb or on a cheese sandwich. - gluttonforlife —gluttonforlife

Test Kitchen Notes

This recipe is all about the front end. You slice and dice the main ingredients, throw them into the pan with sugar, spice and vinegar, wait an hour -- teased all the while by the permeating aroma -- and in an hour’s time you’ve got a condiment with a balanced pungent to sweet to spicy ratio with the pretty hue we’ve come to expect from rhubarb. Gluttonforlife mentions dried sour cherries in the headnote, but they are not included in the ingredient list, so I did not use them. In hind sight, I think they would have added a nice texture to the chutney. - cheese1227
—The Editors

What You'll Need
Ingredients
  • 6 cups diced rhubarb
  • 2 cups dark muscovado sugar
  • 1 cup cider vinegar
  • 2 large cloves garlic, minced
  • 2 medium yellow onions, diced
  • 3 tablespoons minced fresh ginger
  • 3 tablespoons diced crystallized ginger
  • 2 Fresno peppers, stemmed, seeded and diced
  • 2 Serrano peppers, stemmed, seeded and diced
  • 2 teaspoons salt
  • 2 teaspoons freshly grated turmeric
  • 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
  • 1 teaspoon whole coriander
  • 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
Directions
  1. Combine all the ingredients in a large, heavy pot. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then lower the heat and cook, stirring occasionally, until quite thick, about 1 hour. Stir frequently toward the end to avoid scorching. Preserve according to canning instructions, or keep refrigerated in glass jars.
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  • cheese1227
    cheese1227
  • gluttonforlife
    gluttonforlife
  • Catherine
    Catherine
  • Norm48
    Norm48

8 Reviews

Catherine January 3, 2024
Best chutney ever! I put it on everything. Rhubarb is best, incidentally. When I ran out of rhubarb, I tried other fruits (like cranberries) and it was good, but just not the same.
 
Norm48 May 15, 2011
Hard to find different peppers in rural Ontario so I used two large jalapenos, instead.
Tasted great
 
gluttonforlife May 15, 2011
Any chiles will do! Glad you liked it, Norma.
 
cheese1227 May 14, 2010
Sorry, I did not catch that in the head note and the picture before I tested it. It was really good without them and would be great without them.
 
gluttonforlife May 14, 2010
I guess you'll just have to make it again! ;-)
 
gluttonforlife May 14, 2010
Oh no, I need an editor! It should call for 1/2-3/4 cup dried sour cherries, thrown in with the rest of the ingredients. My apologies...
 
cheese1227 May 6, 2010
I can get Serrano peppers pretty easily. What is a good substitute for Fresno peppers?
 
gluttonforlife May 7, 2010
You can really use any sort of hot peppers you like, or just up the red chile flakes a bit. I like the Fresno because they add to the red color, but they aren't essential.