Most chutneys wait for the autumn gluts, but rhubarb is ready in spring. This recipe cooks the stalks slowly with orange, onion, raisins, brown sugar, cider vinegar and warm spices into a dark, sharp-sweet chutney, then gives the jars a short boiling-water bath to seal them.
- Makes
- about 6 x 250ml jars
- Cooking time
- 1½ to 2 hours simmering, then 10 minutes in a boiling-water bath
- Ready to eat
- after at least a few weeks, ideally around two months
- Keeps
- around a year unopened in a cool, dark cupboard
- In season
- April to late June or early July
Ingredients
- 2 medium oranges (zest and 150ml of the juice)
- 1500ml rhubarb stalks, chopped
- 750ml onions, coarsely chopped
- 375ml raisins
- 1250ml brown sugar, lightly packed
- 875ml cider vinegar, 5% acidity
- 25ml (about 2 tbsp) garlic, crushed
- 25ml (about 2 tbsp) root ginger, peeled and minced
- 1 tbsp (15ml) curry powder
- 1 tbsp (15ml) pickling spice
- 1 tsp (5ml) ground allspice
- 10 black peppercorns
- 1 tbsp (15ml) mustard seed
Measure the chopped rhubarb, onions, raisins and sugar in a measuring jug, pressing the sugar down only lightly, and use measuring spoons for the rest.
Method
- Peel the zest from the oranges with a vegetable peeler and chop it finely.
- Squeeze the oranges and measure out 150ml of juice.
- Put the zest, juice, rhubarb, onions, raisins, sugar, vinegar, garlic, ginger, curry powder, pickling spice and allspice into a large stainless steel pan.
- Tie the peppercorns and mustard seed in a square of muslin and add the bag to the pan.
- Bring to the boil, stirring all the time.
- Turn the heat down and boil gently, uncovered, for 1½ to 2 hours, stirring now and then, until the chutney has thickened.
- While it cooks, check your deepest pan will hold the jars with 2.5cm of water over them and room to boil. Set a rack in the base of that pan, stand six clean 250ml jars on it, cover them with water and heat to a gentle simmer (about 82°C), not a boil. Keep the jars in the hot water until you fill them.
- Wash new two-piece canning lids (a flat lid and a screw band) in hot, soapy water and prepare them following the maker's instructions.
- Lift out the muslin bag.
- Fill the hot chutney into the hot jars, leaving 1cm of space below the rim.
- Run a clean plastic or wooden skewer through each jar to release trapped air, then wipe the rims clean.
- Put the lids on, closing them only fingertip-tight.
- Stand the jars upright on the rack in the pan of hot water. Top up with boiling water until the jars are covered by at least 2.5cm.
- Bring the water to a full rolling boil, and only then start timing 10 minutes (15 minutes if you live above about 300m).
- Turn off the heat, take the lid off the pan and wait 5 minutes.
- Lift the jars out upright and leave them undisturbed for 24 hours. Don't tighten the lids.
- Check each seal: press the middle of the lid, and if it springs back up when you let go, it hasn't sealed. Either reprocess an unsealed jar within 24 hours with a new lid, or put it in the fridge and eat it first.
- Take off the screw bands, label the jars with the date and store them in a cool, dark cupboard to mature.
Choosing the stalks
Use young, tender stalks with good colour. Pull them rather than cutting: hold a stalk at the base and twist it gently free. Take no more than about a third of a plant's stems at once, and stop picking by late June or early July so the crown keeps enough leaves to build up for next year. For varieties and aftercare, see the rhubarb growing guide.
Forced stalks from an early variety come weeks ahead of the outdoor crop, and an ordinary Scottish winter gives the crowns all the cold they need first (see forcing rhubarb). Either forced or maincrop stalks can go in, as long as they are young and tender. For a quicker, lighter preserve from the same crop, try rhubarb and ginger jam.
Leave the leaves out
Only the stalks go in. Rhubarb leaves are extremely high in oxalic acid. They are considered poisonous and should never be eaten. Most of the plant's oxalic acid is in the leaves; the stalks you cook don't hold enough to be toxic. Cut the leaves off in the garden and put them on the compost heap, where the acid breaks down.
Don't cut the vinegar or sugar
The vinegar is what keeps this chutney safe in a cupboard. Its acid stops harmful bacteria, moulds and yeasts growing, and it has to reach a minimum, even level right through the pan to stop the bacteria that cause botulism from growing. The amounts of vinegar and sugar are part of that safety. Never reduce either of them, and don't add extra rhubarb or onion to the same vinegar. Use cider vinegar labelled 5% acidity; a vinegar with no stated acidity isn't suitable.
Make it as one full batch, neither doubled nor halved, because the cooking time is for this quantity.
Jars, lids and the water bath
The filled jars are boiled for 10 minutes, so clean jars kept hot in the water bath are enough; sterilising them first does no harm, and sterilising jars shows how. Discard any jar that is cracked or chipped. Use new two-piece canning lids with the coating on the inside intact: vinegar corrodes bare metal, and a scratch from a metal tool lets it through. Reused twist-tops and clip-top seals aren't part of this method; there's more on lids in jars for preserving.
Ten minutes is enough for 250ml jars up to about 300m above sea level. Parts of the Highlands and Southern Uplands sit higher than that, so if your kitchen does, give the jars 15 minutes. Stick to 250ml jars; the timing doesn't cover bigger ones.
If you're used to hot-filling sterilised jars and sealing them, note that this chutney's year-long cupboard life depends on the bath. Jars that are only hot-filled and not bathed should go in the fridge and be eaten soon.
Maturing and storing
| Stage | Where | How long |
|---|---|---|
| Maturing | Cool, dark cupboard | At least a few weeks, ideally around two months, before opening |
| Unopened | Cool, dark cupboard | Around a year |
| Opened | Fridge | Use within a few weeks to a month or two |
Throw away any jar with mould or a fermented, yeasty or alcohol smell, and don't scrape off the top. For other preserves, see how long preserves keep.
More from the rhubarb patch
If the crowns keep giving, read dealing with a glut of rhubarb. Later in the year, the same kitchen kit makes apple chutney and green tomato chutney.
Common questions
Can I cut the sugar or the vinegar?
No. Both are part of what keeps the chutney safe, so keep them exactly as written.
Do I have to do the water bath?
Yes, for jars that will live in the cupboard. Any you don't bath go in the fridge.
Can I use malt or white vinegar instead of cider vinegar?
Use cider vinegar as written, and check the label says 5% acidity. Never use a vinegar with no stated acidity.
Can I use frozen rhubarb?
This recipe hasn't been tested with frozen rhubarb, so use fresh stalks. Spare stalks still freeze well for other uses: wash and trim firm, tender young stalks, cut them into 2.5cm pieces and pack them dry into freezer bags or boxes.
How long before I can eat it?
Leave it at least a few weeks, ideally around two months. Once opened, keep it in the fridge and use it within a few weeks to a month or two.
Sources
Show the 14 sources
- Recipe proportions based on: Bernardin, Orange Rhubarb Chutney: all ingredient quantities and yield (about 6 x 250ml jars); zest peeled and finely chopped, 150ml juice; stainless steel pan; peppercorns and mustard seed in a cloth bag; boil with constant stirring, then 1½ to 2 hours uncovered until thickened; jars heated in the canner to 82°C; lids washed in hot soapy water; 1cm headspace; release air bubbles with a non-metal utensil; lids fingertip-tight; jars covered by at least 2.5cm of water; time from a rolling boil; 10 minutes up to 1,000ft (305m); lid off and wait 5 minutes; cool upright 24 hours, don't retighten; check seals; cool, dark storage, best within one year
- Preserving rhubarb (Oregon State University Extension, Nellie Oehler): the same tested Ball Orange-Rhubarb Chutney republished with permission (10-minute processing, ½ inch headspace, add 5 minutes at 1,001–3,000ft); young, tender, well-coloured stalks; leaves extremely high in oxalic acid, considered poisonous, not to be eaten; freezing firm, tender young stalks in 1-inch pieces packed dry
- Rhubarb Recipes (University of Alaska Fairbanks Cooperative Extension): leaves so high in oxalic acid they are considered poisonous and should never be eaten
- Rhubarb grow-your-own (RHS): oxalic acid mostly in the leaves; stems not toxic; faded leaves can be composted; pull and twist stalks; take about a third; stop by late June or early July
- General Information on Pickling (National Center for Home Food Preservation): cider vinegar of 5% acidity; don't alter vinegar or food proportions; no vinegar of unknown acidity; minimum, uniform acid level to prevent botulinum bacteria
- Chutney (Penn State Extension): never reduce the vinegar; vinegar acidity stops pathogenic bacteria, moulds and yeasts
- Food Safety and Labelling Guidance for small scale home producers of chutneys, pickles, flavoured oils and jams (Scottish Borders Council): amounts of vinegar and sugar essential for safety; discard cracked or chipped jars; don't reuse lids
- Using Boiling Water Canners (National Center for Home Food Preservation): rack in the canner; jars upright; top up with boiling water; canner deep enough for at least 1 inch of boiling water over the jars; remove screw bands from sealed jars; unsealed jars to the fridge and use first
- Cooling Jars and Testing Jar Seals (National Center for Home Food Preservation): press-the-middle seal test; reprocess an unsealed jar within 24 hours with a new lid, or refrigerate it
- Sterilization of Empty Jars (National Center for Home Food Preservation): pre-sterilising needed only when processing time is under 10 minutes
- Frequently Asked Preservation Question: Pinholes in Lids (Penn State Extension): acids corrode metal lids; metal tools scratch the inner coating
- Checklist for Chutneys (Kilner): maturing at least 8 weeks; cool, dark storage
- 25 dirt-cheap ways to garden organically and save (Garden Organic): chutney up to a year in a cool, dark place; maturing 2–3 weeks minimum; opened chutney in the fridge
- Storing Home-Canned Jams and Jellies (National Center for Home Food Preservation): opened jars in the fridge within about a month; discard jars with mould or a fermented, yeasty or alcohol smell