This chilli chutney recipe is another of those simple little recipes that tastes incredible yet is so easy to make. Not only is it quick to make but it stores well. It is delicious served with cheese and biscuits, cold meats or in any sandwich. Like most chutney recipes it is very adaptable so feel free to add in any other fruit or vegetables you have spare.
This recipe will make approximately 4 jars of chutney. It is best stored somewhere cool and dark for 4-6 weeks before consuming. The chutney can be eaten fresh, however over time the flavours infuse and marry meaning it gets better with age.
Chilli Chutney Ingredients:
- 10 chopped red chillies (Cayenne or similar, adjust to taste)
- 2 large onions
- 300ml of cider vinegar
- 100ml of water
- 1/2 teaspoon of garam masala
- 4 table spoons of light brown castor sugar
- 2 cooking apples
- 1 courgette
- 1 carrot
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 clove of garlic
- 1 tablespoon of crushed coriander seeds
Method:
1. Chop all of the ingredients (not the bay leaves!) and add to a deep pan and bring to the boil.
2. Lower the heat and simmer for about 1 1/2 hours until all the ingredients are soft and the mixture is a thick texture
3. Remove the bay leaves.
3. Place the chutney in clean steralized jars.
The longer you leave it in the jar before opening the greater the flavors become. Once opened store it in a fridge and consume within 6-8 weeks. In our experiance it wont last that long – we think this is the best chilli chutney recipe out there.
Sterilising the Jars
Sterilising jars is not as complicated or doesn’t have to be as precise as you think. Here’s my method:
1. Remove the lids and wash the jars & lids in hot soapy water. Rinse well.
2. Place the jars on a baking tray in the oven at 150 degrees celcius for 10 minutes or until completely dry.
3. Place the lids in a bowl. Boil the kettle and pour the boiling water over the lids in the bowl. This prevents damaging any rubber/plastic seals in the lids. Remove from the water and dry with a clean towel.
If you liked this chilli chutney recipe then you should definitely take a look at our famous chilli oil recipe.
This is a wonderful hot chutney. After only 4 days the flavours are already coming together; I’m sure it’ll be even nicer in a few weeks. I used a hand blender to slightly blend the chutney, leaving most of it chunky, and this created a very nice overall texture that clings well to crackers and cheese. Can’t wait to serve it with appetizers this Thanksgiving. Thank you.
Just made this chutney with red rocoto chillis, absobloodybeautiful cheers for 5he recipe
Glad you liked it! Once you get the hand of the basics of making chutney it really is hard to go wrong!
Hi – I normally make apple/ginger chutney, but this year apple crop failed, so thought I would like to try this one as I have large chilli plants in my house – refugees from my cold greenhouse. Thought I would up the apple content, and leave out other veg, but main question is – Do I take the seeds out of my Japeleno chillis before cooking the recipe ??
Louise – Entirely up to you. Personally I always leave the seeds in.
If a recipe calls for 6 red chillies, who many would I use if using the tiny hot chillies?
Phyllis,
This is a very hard one to answer. I always advise you to taste the peppers in question and add to taste. For a chutney I would tend to over spice and make it slightly too hot as the flavours will mellow over time. Good luck!
If a recipes calls for n chillis always use n * x chillis, where x is a number above 1.
Any idea if I can make this chutney in the bread machine? It has a jam program and I found other receipts of chutney, but I don’t know if this will work too.
I’m used in adapting different cake/ sweets recipe for the bread machine (all or just the preparation part), but I have no experience with chutneys.
thanks
Catalina,
I’m afraid i’ve only ever made chutney the old fashioned way in an open pot on the stove. Maybe try a small batch and see how you get on. If it doesn’t work you can always re-boil it up in a pan afterwards…
Good luck and be sure to let us know how you get on.
Do you give the jars a water bath, or do they self seal because the jars and contents are hot?
I have canned veggies from our garden for years with my mother growing up, but now that I am an adult, I am trying new recipes. Translation – not a versatile cook. Meat and potatoes served with what ever was canned or frozen from the garden. So, What is garam marsala? Where do I find it in the grocery store? What is courgette? Can these items be substituted with anything else?
Hi Sharon,
Courgette – I believe you call them Zuchini over there!
Garam Masala – It’s an Indian spice blend you can buy in any decent Asian store. It’s not essential to this recipe if you can’t find it. Some ground cumin would be a good replacement.
Sterilising jars – I wash then rinse them in hot water. Then I place the jars in the oven until dry. The lids can’t go in the oven due to rubber/plastic seals so I bath them in boiling water then dry with a clean cotton towel.
Good luck and let us know how the chutney goes!!
garam masla, masala means spice, garam masala is a mixture of spices, play around with them or buy mixed spice
Mister King – I want o try this but my wife hates coriander. Is the coriander taste there and if so is there something else you would recommend using instead?
Basil,
You could either leave out the coriander seeds however they don’t really taste like coriander leaves so your wife might not notice! They tend to have a citrus like flavour.
Can you use green chillies instead of red?
Of course you can!
I want to make the Chutney and Jelly but am unable to find cooking apples ( live in Cyprus) will eating apples work just as well.
Many Thanks
Philip
Phillip,
Eating apples will work just as well however the end result will be a bit sweeter and less tart. You may want to consider cutting out a little of the sugar and adding a little lemon juice or vinegar.
Hi,
Sorry for sounding a little dumb (cooking is not my forté).
How are you chopping your onions and garlic?
Thanks.
Russell – I chop them with a nice into small pieces about 1cm squared.
Have just ordered my chilli plugs. Have already got ‘ring of fire’ chillies growing from seed and am surprised and excited to see them growing happily, Am new to all this, just started growing my own veg, tomatoes etc this year. This website is a godsend and can’t wait to try this chutney recipe, sounds fab. 🙂
if you put the hot mixture into old jam jars that are also hot – screw the lid on- and place them lid down untill they are cold
to re-vacum the jars
they will last for 12 month
a good way to keep for longer
Hi just made this chilli chutney. It’s come out brilliant. Tripled the recipe but only put in 1 litre of water. It tastes divine. Well pleased 🙂
I have frozen all my Chillies and I am about to move house so need something to do with a freezer bag full of Chillies. I was thinking of making up some batches of your chutney, but will it work with whole chillies that have been frozen?
Hannah – yes, you can always let them defrost a little before roughly chopping…perfect for a spicy chutney!
how long do you boil to sterilise for and do you screw the lids on tight,i am a novice at this.
kath – a couple of minutes does the trick.
when making chilli chutney, can you use chillies that you’ve dried or do they have to be fresh? I ask as i’ve dried all mine for winter. thanks
Paula – You need fresh peppers for chutney realy. Dry ones wouldn’t be right in a chutney.
Hi, can u eat this straight away or do u have to leave for a couple of months?
Josephine – Well you can certainly eat it straight away but it improves with age!
Hi, the half batch i made was lovely on some cheese. I’m going to make some more, can you tell me what quantity it makes so i can get the right size jar?
Hi, just to say my chilli chutney turned out to be a great success, even though I had too much liquid. Thank you for the advice, I did drain some liquid off but also added some cooking apples and sultanas which absorbed the rest of the excess liquid. The result being absolutely fantastic. In fact so good I have been asked to make some more of the same, however today I am going to make the proper chilli king chutney receipe, wish me luck. Jeannie x
jeannie – glad you liked the chutney!
Hi
I’ve already made one batch of your chilli chutney. It was so delicious that I’m going to make some more, I’d like to make double the quantity this time, I’ve noticed from Jeanies post that she doubled the amounts of liquid and found the resulting chutney very watery; how much extra liquid would you suggest that I put in with double the solid ingredients?
Thanks for your website, any suggestions to use my glut of cooking apples too, & ideas on how i can ripen my “devils tongue” chillies which are steadfasly remaining green, or can I leave them longer to ripen
Shaz
Shaz – Just slowly add ‘extra’ water as you cook the mixture down a little at a time to avoid a too watery mix.
Devils Tongue – Be patient. Try to keep the plant/s warm and with as much light as possible and they’ll hopefully ripen soon!
Apple Glut – You could try our chilli and apple jelly recipe???
Oh know I’ve just realised what i have done, I wanted to make double the amount as I have loads of very hot apache chillis so I have doubled up everything including liquid amounts oh know now what shall I do. Perhaps drain some liquid away and bulk up with some cooking apples would that be too awful or not. Help!
Jeannie – either drain some of the liquid out or just simmer it to reduce it down a bit. chutneys are fairly forgiving things to make. the more you cook them the more the flavours will marry together.
Hi I;m making this chilli chutney right as I tyrpe this and I’m a bit concerned that it seems very watery and it has been cooking longer than receipe says. Any one have any suggestions. Cheers J x
Do you use light or dark brown sugar? Also, is it 7 small chillies that have been chopped, or 7 chillies that have been chopped small? Thanks.
Ann – i tend to use light brown sugar. i guess it all depends on how hot you like it and the strength of your chillies. every batch i make is different.
how long does this keep
lesley – once oped i have kept it in the fridge for 3 months with no problems. it should last a year or so unopened.
what type of chillies do you suggest using in this recipe?
Lucille – You can use any sort you like. I usually use either something fairly plain like a cayenne or sometimes do it with habaeros.