LOVE homemade chutney but in a pickle about where to start?
It’s cheap and easy to make plus the preserved veg can last you all winter. They also make perfect presents.
Follow these easy tips to create your own delicious jars.
KEEP IT CLEAN: You must sterilise jars before storing your preserves but it’s not as difficult as it sounds.
Pre-heat the oven to 140C. Wash the jars thoroughly but don’t dry them.
Place them on a baking tray and then put them in the oven for ten minutes.
read more on cost cutting
Timing is important, because you should fill the jars while both the chutney and jars are still piping hot, so start getting your jars sorted when your sauce is around 20 minutes from being ready.
AUTUMN IN A JAR: Combine the classic tastes of apples and plums in an easy seasonal plum chutney.
Just add the fruit and the other store cupboard ingredients and simmer for around an hour.
Decant into sterilised jars and store. Find the whole one-pan recipe at asda.com.
Most read in Money
PRESERVE YOUR PATIENCE: The key to a flavoursome chutney is waiting until the vinegar taste, which can be overpowering at the start, has mellowed.
Unless a recipe says differently, you need to store pickles and chutneys for at least three months before eating.
Keep them in a cool, dry, dark place such as a cupboard under the stairs or a box in the garage.
SLOWLY DOES IT: For a low-cost, stress-free recipe, try the Basic Chutney at netmums.com, made in a slow cooker.
The recipe shows that you can use almost any fruit or veg to make the tangy sauce, and you can add extra taste with the herbs and spices.
Just use cheap sugar, vinegar and cooking apples as the base.
PICKLED PRESENTS: A jar of DIY chutney can be a perfect present. Make them now just in time for Christmas.
There are 27 Christmas Chutney recipes at bbc.co.uk/food.
Finish them off using the Ginger Ray gingham jam jar topper kit, £4.30 from Hobbycraft, with 20 fabric toppers, tags and twine.
- All prices on page correct at time of going to press. Deals and offers subject to availability.
Deal of the day
BRING on the bling with the crystal teardrop necklace from Accessorize down from £16 to £8.
SAVE: £8
Cheap treat
GET 15 per cent off selected products at myfabulosa. co.uk including House of Fab room perfume, now £1.44 down from £1.69.
SAVE: 25p
What’s new?
SIGN up to the Greggs app before October 16 to get a free pizza slice and a hot drink of your choice.
Pizza toppings include classic margherita and pepperoni.
Top swap
YOUR kids can snuggle up with the oversized blanket hoodie, top, from £16 at John Lewis, or they can bed down with the hooded blanket, from B&M, £10.
SAVE: £6
Leah’s little helper
BRUSH up on your DIY skills with paint savings at Wickes on its own-brand range, as well as Dulux and Crown paints. The Wickes vinyl matt emulsion, 2.5L, is down from £15 to £10.
Shop & save
SOFTIES should head to Iceland for half-price Comfort Creations waterlily and lime fabric conditioner, now £2.50.
SAVE: £2.50
Hot right now
A BIRCHWOOD British pork loin joint is a Pick Of The Week in store at Lidl, priced £4.99 a kilo.
PLAY NOW TO WIN £200
JOIN thousands of readers taking part in The Sun Raffle.
Every month we’re giving away £100 to 250 lucky readers – whether you’re saving up or just in need of some extra cash, The Sun could have you covered.
Every Sun Savers code entered equals one Raffle ticket.
Read More on The Sun
The more codes you enter, the more tickets you’ll earn and the more chance you will have of winning!