Gooseberries don’t have a particularly long season here in Germany – once you can find them on the local farmer’s market, it doesn’t take long for them to take a break again until next year. To be able to enjoy these little fellas a little longer, we like to cook a simple Gooseberry Chutney. Once this is in the glass jars, you have a tasty side dish »sauce« for many months.
If you find chutney in someone’s fridge, it’s easy to be mistaken for jam. Once you try it, you will quickly realize that there’s nothing really sweet in that glass jar you could spread on your toast in the morning ;P Chutneys are something you will often find in Indian cuisine. Spicy, often sweet ‘n’ sour, sometimes really hot »sauces« that can be used for different purposes. I am not really sure if I should call it »sauce«, because chutney usually has more of a jammy, chunky consistency – hence the risk of confusion in the fridge ;P
Chutney is very versatile. As a side dish for barbecues, as a sweet ‘n’ sour counterpart to cheese on a charcuterie board, as a spicy sauce on a sandwich or burger… there are many ways chutney can be added ;)
In India, where chutneys originate, the sweet, sour, and spicy »sauces« (I’ll just call it sauce for lack of a better term) are often used to mellow down spicier dishes. Exactly, something that is considered spicy here is used to »tone down« even spicier dishes. Think about that. Fight spice with spice ;P
Chutneys can be made with all kinds of fruits, berries, and veggies. In India, the flesh of coconuts is often used as the base for chutney. Here in Germany and Europe, chutneys with fruit and veggies are more common. In India, there is a berry called Amla which belongs to the gooseberry family and can also be turned into chutney. Those berries were, of course, not available here in our supermarkets, so I used our red gooseberries for my chutney here instead.
This gooseberry chutney is sweet, sour, and fruity and tastes wonderful, in my opinion! As I said before, we use it as a side when grilling meat, for cheese platters, for sandwiches and burgers, etc. Once cooked and neatly bottled in glass jars, a chutney like this will keep for many months. If you have a gooseberry bush in your garden, you should definitely take a look at this recipe. Gooseberry cake alone is boring at some point, isn’t it? ;P
There are a few more recipes for preserving fruits and veggies on the blog. If you want to do something with cucumbers, you should take a look at my recipe for Homemade Pickled Gherkins or Pickled Gherkins with Mustard Seeds. How about Grilled Bell Peppers in Oil? If you have some ripe and sweet strawberries lying around, you should most definitely check out my recipe for a Sugar-free Strawberry & Vanilla Jam. My absolute favorite!
INGREDIENTS / ZUTATEN
(2 small glass jars)
14 oz. (400g) fresh gooseberries
some olive oil for frying
1 red onion, finely diced
1-2 garlic cloves, finely diced
1 small piece of ginger, finely diced
1 tsp. mustard seeds
1 tsp. dried thyme
1/2 tsp. chili flakes
150g brown sugar
200ml apple cider vinegar
salt, pepper
(2 kleine Gläser)
400g Stachelbeeren
etwas Olivenöl zum Anbraten
1 rote Zwiebel, fein gewürfelt
1-2 Knoblauchzehen, fein gewürfelt
1 kleines Stück Ingwer, fein gewürfelt
1 TL Senfkörner
1 TL getrockneter Thymian
1/2 TL Chiliflocken
150g brauner Zucker
200ml Apfelessig
Salz, Pfeffer
DIRECTIONS / ZUBEREITUNG
1. Wash and dry the gooseberries, remove the stems and flower remnants. Peel and finely dice the onion and garlic. Peel the ginger as well and dice or chop very finely.
2. Heat up a small saucepan with some olive oil and sauté the onion, garlic and ginger for a few minutes. Once everything is soft, add the mustard seeds, thyme, and chili flakes and sauté/roast briefly with the rest. Add the brown sugar and stir to combine. Deglaze with the apple cider vinegar, add the cleaned gooseberries and mix everything until well combined. Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce the heat and let the chutney simmer for about 30-35 minutes. Do not stir the chutney too much while it is boiling down, otherwise the gooseberries will get too mushy.
3. While the chutney is cooking, briefly sterilize the jars you wanna store the chutney in boiling water. Season the finished chutney with salt and pepper, and then immediately pour it into the sterile glass jars. Close them tightly and let cool down. I recommend turning the glasses upside down for the first 5 minutes to make sure no germs survive on the lids.
Tip: If you’ve done a good job sterilizing the glass jars, the chutney should keep for several months in a dark & cool place. Once opened, the chutney should be stored in the fridge and eaten as quickly as possible.
1. Die Stachelbeeren waschen, trocknen und dann die Stiele und Blütenreste entfernen. Zwiebel und Knoblauch schälen und fein würfeln. Den Ingwer ebenfalls schälen und dann sehr fein würfeln bzw. hacken.
2. Etwas Olivenöl in einem kleinen Topf erhitzen und dann Zwiebel, Knoblauch und Ingwer darin einige Minuten anschwitzen. Sobald das Gemüse weich ist, die Senfkörner, Thymian und Chiliflocken dazugeben und kurz mit anschwitzen. Den braunen Zucker dazugeben und alles gut verrühren. Mit dem Apfelessig ablöschen, dann die gesäuberten Stachelbeeren dazugeben und alles gut verrühren. Die Mischung einmal kurz aufkochen lassen, dann die Hitzezufuhr etwas reduzieren und etwa 30-35 Minuten köcheln lassen. Das Chutney während dem Einkochen nicht allzu viel rühren, damit die Stachelbeeren nicht komplett zerfallen.
3. Während das Chutney kocht, die Gläser, in denen das Chutney gelagert werden soll, kurz abkochen, damit sie steril sind. Das fertige Chutney noch einmal mit Salz und Pfeffer abschmecken und dann sofort in die sterilen Gläser füllen und abkühlen lassen. Ich empfehle, die Gläser die ersten 5 Minuten über Kopf abkühlen zu lassen, damit allem Unerwünschten im Deckel der Garaus gemacht wird.
Tipp: Wenn man sauber gearbeitet hat und die Einmachgläser steril waren, sollte sich das Chutney mehrere Monate an einem dunklen & kühlten Ort halten. Einmal geöffnet, sollte man das Chutney im Kühlschrank lagern und alsbald aufbrauchen.
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Here is a version of the recipe you can print easily.
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Homemade Gooseberry Chutney
- Prep Time: 00:10
- Cook Time: 00:35
- Total Time: 00:45
- Yield: 2 1x
- Category: Chutney
- Cuisine: International
- Diet: Vegan
Description
Homemade Gooseberry Chutney goes well with many foods – bread, cold cuts and cheeses. We make some every year when gooseberries are in season.
Ingredients
14 oz. (400g) fresh gooseberries
some olive oil for frying
1 red onion, finely diced
1-2 garlic cloves, finely diced
1 small piece of ginger, finely diced
1 tsp. mustard seeds
1 tsp. dried thyme
1/2 tsp. chili flakes
150g brown sugar
200ml apple cider vinegar
salt, pepper
Instructions
1. Wash and dry the gooseberries, remove the stems and flower remnants. Peel and finely dice the onion and garlic. Peel the ginger as well and dice or chop very finely.
2. Heat up a small saucepan with some olive oil and sauté the onion, garlic and ginger for a few minutes. Once everything is soft, add the mustard seeds, thyme, and chili flakes and sauté/roast briefly with the rest. Add the brown sugar and stir to combine. Deglaze with the apple cider vinegar, add the cleaned gooseberries and mix everything until well combined. Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce the heat and let the chutney simmer for about 30-35 minutes. Do not stir the chutney too much while it is boiling down, otherwise the gooseberries will get too mushy.
3. While the chutney is cooking, briefly sterilize the jars you wanna store the chutney in boiling water. Season the finished chutney with salt and pepper, and then immediately pour it into the sterile glass jars. Close them tightly and let cool down. I recommend turning the glasses upside down for the first 5 minutes to make sure no germs survive on the lids.
Notes
If you’ve done a good job sterilizing the glass jars, the chutney should keep for several months in a dark & cool place. Once opened, the chutney should be stored in the fridge and eaten as quickly as possible.
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