Name: Apple chutney with ginger & cinnamon
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 25 min
Ingredients: 1 teaspoon organic canola oil; 1/2 cup yellow onions (chopped); 1/4 teaspoon finely grated ginger (I use a Microplane zester); 3 cups peeled and chopped apples (Chopped small*); 1/2 teaspoon apple cider vinegar; 2 teaspoons agave syrup; 1/8 teaspoon cinnamon; 1/4 teaspoon curry powder; 1/4 teaspoon salt

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Apple chutney is like a chunky apple sauce with the warming flavors of curry, ginger, and cinnamon. It can be eaten warm or cold straight out of the refrigerator.

Use it as a dip with vegetable samosas. Serve it on a vegan holiday roast. Or add it as a topping on seitan sausages in a toasted bun. Vegan & gluten-free.

When I was a kid, and we had an excess of apples, my mom would often make applesauce.

It’s great for apples that are starting to get a little wrinkled or even have some bad spots. You just peel them, cut off any bad parts, and use the rest.

Plus, since the apples shrink down in the cooking process, it’s a handy way to use a lot of apples.

What is apple chutney?

Apple chutney is similar to apple sauce. However, it has more of a savory flavor and warming edge.

The diced apples are filled out with sautéed onions, fresh ginger, curry powder, cinnamon, agave syrup, and a dash of apple cider vinegar.

A lot of apple chutney recipes call for an excess of sugar or vinegar. I prefer mine to maintain a little of its tartness from the apples. I don’t want their inherent flavor to get overpowered by too much sugar or vinegar.

So I use just enough of both to heighten their flavors without dominating.

But apples can vary. So if yours are particularly sour, feel free to add more agave syrup to suit your tastes.

Cooking time can also vary, depending on how thickly you cut the apples.

For my first batch, I cut the apples on the chunkier side. The apples maintain a little more of their crunch that way, which I liked.

However, when I went to use the apple chutney as a topping on mini vegetable samosas, the apple pieces were just too big to easily stay on the samosas.

(The mini vegetable samosas are one of my favorite vegan Trader Joe’s products. By the way, they’re also great with zhoug sauce in the refrigerated section.)

So the next time, I cut the apple pieces much smaller. The smaller pieces worked a lot better for a samosa topping.

And the chutney cooked in just 12 to 15 minutes. Super fast!

You could easily cook your chutney while the samosas are cooking in the air fryer. Air fry the samosas for 7 to 8 minutes at 400 degrees, stopping once to flip half way through.

What do you eat with it?

Use it as a dip with vegetable samosas.
Put it alongside a vegan holiday roast as a relish.
Use it as a topping on vegan sausage.
Serve it with chana masala as a cooling side.
Serve it on a vegan cheese board.

Great for holiday dinners

As we’re getting awfully close to the holiday season, this chutney recipe is a good one to keep in mind for festive dinners. (Add it to your list of vegan Thanksgiving recipes!)

Apple chutney is a wonderful alternative or addition to orange cranberry sauce.

The chutney is pictured here with vegan mashed potatoes, steamed broccoli, and browned slices of Field Roast celebration roast. But it would be terrific with any plant-based holiday roast or turkey-style seitan.

Serve it hot or cold

Apple chutney keeps well in the refrigerator. In fact, the flavors improve over time as everything melds.

So this is a good one to make ahead of time if you’re planning a holiday get together.

What curry powder should I use?

Since curry powders are a blend of spices that vary from one to the next, I like to keep a variety of them in my spice cabinet.

(Curry powder is one of those things that I will often get as a souvenir on trips. Many spice stores have jars open that are available for sniffing. Your nose tends to be a good gauge on what will be a tasty curry powder.)

For this recipe I used S & B curry powder. It’s a mixture of turmeric, coriander, fenugreek, cumin, red pepper, black pepper, cinnamon, ginger, star anise, cloves, cardamom, fennel, nutmeg, laurel leaves, allspice, and garlic.

Penzey’s sweet curry powder would also be a good choice.

The main thing is, you don’t want anything too hot or overpowering. For this recipe, I like a curry powder with warming spices that let the apples take center stage.

How to make this recipe

Start by peeling your apples and cutting them into small pieces.

Then sauté onions and ginger in oil until softened & fragrant.

(Pro tip: If you have lots of ginger root left over after this recipe, freeze it!)

Add apples, curry powder, cinnamon, apple cider vinegar, agave syrup, and salt to the pot.

Cover and cook for 12 to 15 minutes. (If your apple pieces are on the larger side, you may need to cook as long as 25 minutes.)

Uncover, stir, and let the chutney cook for a couple minutes more to cook off any excess liquid, if your apples are particularly juicy.

Then serve the apple chutney warm. Or move the chutney to a covered container and refrigerate.

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