Mrs Ball’s Chutney

Ingredients

Fruit

• 400 gdried peaches, roughly chopped
• 200 gdried apricots, roughly chopped
• 100 gsultanas or seedless raisins
• 600 mlbrown grape vinegar or spirit vinegar
• 400 mlwater

Aromatics

• 2onions, very finely chopped
• 6garlic cloves, minced
• 20 gginger, grated
• 2 tspfine salt
• 1–2 tspdried chilli flakes, to taste
• 1 tspground coriander
• ½ tspground allspice
• ½ tspmustard powder

To finish

• 500 gwhite sugar
• 100 gsoft brown sugar
• 2 tbspextra vinegar, to adjust at the end

Jars

• 4x 400 ml jars with vinegar-proof lids, sterilised at 120°C (250°F) for 15 min

Directions

1. Soak the dried peaches, apricots and sultanas overnight in the vinegar and water. They should swell and go completely soft; hard fruit will never break down properly in the pan.
2. Tip the fruit and its soaking liquid into a heavy, non-reactive pan with the onion, garlic, ginger, salt, chilli, coriander, allspice and mustard powder.
3. Bring to a simmer and cook, uncovered, for 40 minutes, stirring often, until the fruit collapses and the onion is completely translucent.
4. Blitz roughly with a stick blender or pass through a coarse mouli. The finished chutney should be thick and pulpy with a little fruit texture left, not a smooth purée and not chunky.
5. Stir in both sugars over low heat until fully dissolved before letting it boil again; undissolved sugar catches and burns on the base.
6. Simmer for a further 30–40 minutes, stirring more and more often as it thickens, until a spoon dragged across the base leaves a channel that closes only slowly.
7. Taste and correct: it must be assertively sweet and sharply sour at once, with the chilli arriving late. Add the extra vinegar if it has gone flat, or a little more salt to lift it.
8. Ladle boiling hot into sterilised jars, seal at once and invert for 2 minutes. Cool, label and leave at least 3 weeks before opening; the flavour rounds out considerably. It keeps a year unopened, a month in the fridge once opened.

Technique

• The commercial recipe is a trade secret, traced to Amelia Ball in Fort Jackson, Eastern Cape, in the 1870s and sold commercially from the 1920s. This is the widely documented home approximation, not the factory formula.
• Dried fruit, not fresh, is what gives the characteristic dark, sticky, concentrated body. Fresh peaches produce a watery chutney that never sets.
• The vinegar is a preservative as much as a flavour. Do not reduce it below about 600 ml or the chutney will not keep safely at room temperature.

Substitutions

• Dried apricots alone can carry the whole recipe if peaches are unavailable, giving a slightly sharper, brighter chutney.
• Apple cider vinegar works, but avoid malt vinegar, which is too dominant here.
• For the hot version, add 3 tsp chilli flakes plus 1 finely chopped fresh chilli.

Variations

• Mrs Ball’s original and hot varieties are the two that sit on most South African tables.
• Spooned into bobotie, stirred into a cheese sandwich, or mixed with mayonnaise as a dipping sauce.

History

Amelia Ball began selling her chutney commercially in Fish Hoek around 1918 from a family recipe; the brand is a South African pantry fixture.

Frequently asked questions

What is Mrs Ball’s Chutney?

Mrs Ball’s Chutney is a sauce & condiment from South Africa: sweet-sour fruit chutney spooned onto curry, bobotie and cheese sandwiches. Amelia Ball began selling her chutney commercially in Fish Hoek around 1918 from a family recipe; the brand is a South African pantry fixture.

How long does Mrs Ball’s Chutney take to make?

Mrs Ball’s Chutney takes 30 min plus overnight soaking of preparation and 1 hr 30 min of cooking. The recipe makes about 1.5 litres (4 jars). It is rated easy to make.

What can I substitute in Mrs Ball’s Chutney?

Yes, within limits. Dried apricots alone can carry the whole recipe if peaches are unavailable, giving a slightly sharper, brighter chutney. Apple cider vinegar works, but avoid malt vinegar, which is too dominant here. For the hot version, add 3 tsp chilli flakes plus 1 finely chopped fresh chilli.

What is the most important thing to get right in Mrs Ball’s Chutney?

Soak the dried peaches, apricots and sultanas overnight in the vinegar and water. They should swell and go completely soft; hard fruit will never break down properly in the pan.