Fermented Fruit Chutney
I’ve fallen in love with lacto-fermented chutneys, so much so that I’m considering turning all the vinegar-based chutneys I canned into ketchup (ketchup is basically just pureed chutney). The flavor of these fresh chutneys is so good that I could, and do, eat them straight out of the jar. Plus you get all sorts of health benefits that aren’t in the vinegar versions; lacto-fermented foods have good-for-you bacteria in them, like with yogurt.
The recipe below is a Northeastern locavore’s variation on one by Sally Fallon (I swap in just a little vinegar to replace non-local lemon juice, and local honey instead of Rapadura). This chutney is an especially good use up for the storage apples we’re still getting from local farms at this time of year. But it’s also good made with peaches, cherries, and other fruit.
The only downside is that lacto-fermented foods take up refrigerator space. You could process them in a boiling water bath to make them shelf-stable, but doing so would kill off those healthy bacteria.
Lacto-fermented Fruit Chutney
Makes approximately 1 quart
Ingredients:
1/2 cup filtered water (the chlorine in straight tap water can halt the fermentation process)
2 Tbsp. honey
2 Tbsp. whey* (if you’ve got yogurt in the house, you can make whey, see note below)
1 Tbsp. vinegar
3 cups peeled, cored, and finely chopped apples or other fruit
1/2 cup raisins or small pieces of other dried fruit
2 tsp. sea salt
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. slightly crushed coriander seeds
1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes (or more, if you like your chutney spicy)
1/2 tsp. ground spicebush berries (or black pepper)
1/2 tsp. dried thyme
1/2 tsp. caraway seeds
Procedure:
Combine the water, vinegar, honey and whey. Mix with the other ingredients and pack firmly into a quart-size glass jar, leaving at least an inch of headspace. The liquid should come up to the top of the fruit. If it doesn’t, add a little filtered water.
Cover and leave at room temperature for 2 days. Refrigerate and leave for another week before eating. Will keep in the refrigerator for 2 months. Serve with rice, meat, cheese, whatever suits your fancy.
*Whey: If you drain yogurt through cloth or paper filters over a bowl, the liquid that separates out is whey. Drained yogurt is thicker than regular, and delicious. If you let it drain in the refrigerator for 24 hours you have something with the exact consistency of cream cheese, which is delicious on toast topped with some of that chutney you used the whey to make.
This sounds fantastic. My vinegar based preserves are usually WAY too tangy to really enjoy. I wonder if you can sub in some mango too.
You can absolutely make fermented chutney with mango and other fruits. Enjoy!
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My husband can’t have dairy… can I sub thick soy milk for the whey? Thanks; sounds great!
Not sure that the soy milk would work. The point of the whey is that it contains active cultures that help kickstart the fermentation process. But lacto-fermentation works even without the kickstart. I’d say just leave it out.
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Honey is antibacterial, which inhibits lactobacilli growth. Did you actually get this recipe to ferment?
Yes, it always has a frothy and vigorous fermentation. Apparently the amount of honey in the recipe is not enough, thankfully, to prevent that.
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