Indian cooking
Indian cooking / Dishes / Pineapple and Black Pepper Chutney
Pineapple and Black Pepper Chutney ()

Pineapple and Black Pepper Chutney

Vegetarian

A sticky, sweet-sour pineapple chutney with warm cumin and a sharp black-pepper bite. It cooks down to a dark syrup and is best after a few days' rest.

Cumin for the oil

2.1 gAdded to the hot oil before the garlic and ginger (step 2)
01
Cumin seed · Jeeracoarsely ground
2.1 g1 teaspoon
spice
Keep coarsely ground; add straight to the oil.

Black pepper for the chutney

9 gMost stirred in after the sugar and vinegar, with a small pinch held back for the end (step 6)
01
Black peppercorn · Kali Mirchcoarsely ground
9 g1 tablespoon
spice
Coarsely grind; set a small pinch aside before adding the rest.

Everything else

01
Mustard or vegetable oil
54 g4 tablespoons
oil/fat
02
Garlic · Lehsunfinely chopped
9 g3 cloves
aromatic
03
Fresh ginger · Adrakfinely chopped
10 g2½ cm
aromatic
04
Canned pineapple · Ananasdrained and chopped
1500 g
fruit
05
Brown sugar
220 g
sweetener
06
Malt vinegar · Sirka
41 g40 ml
souring agent

Method

  1. Put 54 g mustard or vegetable oil in a large heavy saucepan over high heat. For mustard oil, heat until it smokes, remove from the heat, wait 3–4 minutes, then return to low heat. For vegetable oil, heat it normally.
  2. Add the cumin for the oil and fry for a few seconds.
  3. Add 9 g garlic and 10 g ginger and fry for about 2 minutes.
  4. Add 1500 g canned pineapple chunk, drained and chopped, stir well and cook over medium heat for 10 minutes.
  5. Stir in 220 g dark brown sugar and 40.6 g malt vinegar until the sugar dissolves.
  6. Stir in most of the black pepper for the chutney (8.7 g black peppercorn, coarsely ground), keeping a small pinch back.
  7. Lower the heat and simmer uncovered for 1 hour 45 minutes, stirring now and then and scraping the base of the pan.
  8. If the mixture looks dry, add a few tablespoons of water and keep simmering.
  9. Continue cooking until the moisture has reduced and the chutney is syrupy and darkened.
  10. Stir in the reserved black pepper.
  11. Leave to cool, then spoon into sterilised jars and seal. Store in a cool place for 3–4 days before opening; keep refrigerated and use within 4 weeks.

Don't have something?

Mustard or vegetable oil
  • Groundnut oil

    Use the same weight; neutral, so the dish will lack mustard heat unless you add mustard seeds.

  • Sunflower oil

    Use the same weight; neutral and light, but no pungency.

  • Vegetable or corn oil

    Use the same weight; plain and neutral, best when mustard oil is omitted for a milder dish.

Cumin seed
  • Ground cumin

    Use 70% of the weight; add with ground spices or sauce bases rather than hot oil tempering, where it scorches quickly and turns bitter.

  • Black cumin seeds

    Use equal weight for oil tempering. Delivers an earthy profile with an additional musky, smoky, and slightly bitter edge.

  • Fennel seed

    Use 60% of the weight for tempering; offers comparable warm aroma, but leans sweet and liquorice-like rather than savoury and earthy.

Garlic
  • Garlic paste

    Use equal weight. Fry gently in oil or ghee with the ginger; incorporates smoothly into curries without visible minced bits.

  • Garlic powder

    Use 15% to 20% of the weight (about 1 g for every 5 to 6 g fresh cloves). Whisk into sauces; gives a savoury, toasted garlic flavour without raw pungency.

  • Shallot

    Use 1.5 times the weight, very finely minced. Sauté until golden; provides savoury allium sweetness, though it lacks garlic's pungent sulphur bite.

Fresh ginger
  • Ginger paste

    Use equal weight. Sauté in hot fat until the raw allium smell disappears; slightly wetter, but provides identical warmth and pungency.

  • Ground ginger

    Use 20% to 25% of the weight (1 g for every 4 to 5 g fresh). Stir into the gravy; adds peppery heat and warmth, though it misses the crisp, zesty kick of raw root.

Canned pineapple
  • Pineapple

    Same weight, peeled, cored and chopped; fresher and more acidic, so add 10 g sugar if the dish is sweet.

  • Canned pineapple slice

    Same weight, chopped; identical in taste, only the cut differs.

Brown sugar
  • Demerara sugar

    Use the same weight; it is drier and slightly less molasses-rich, so taste and add a little more if needed.

  • Jaggery

    Use the same weight; it is stronger and more mineral, so dissolve it first and reduce any other sweetener.

  • Granulated sugar

    Use the same weight; it is less moist and less dark. Add 5 g cane molasses per 100 g if you have it.

Malt vinegar
  • White malt vinegar

    Use the same weight; sharper and clearer; reduce salt slightly.

  • White vinegar

    Use 90% of the weight, diluted with 10% water; harsher, so taste.

  • Lime juice

    Use the same weight; fresher sourness but no malt flavour; reduce salt.

Black peppercorn
  • Coarsely ground black pepper

    Use 75% of the weight. Add midway through simmering; spreads heat evenly through the dish instead of delivering isolated bursts.

  • Ground black pepper

    Use 50% of the weight. Stir in near the end of cooking; significantly darkens light gravies and provides an immediate, sharp bite.

Similar dishes

Annanas ka Raita
Pineapple Raita
Annanas ka Raita tastes cooling, creamy, and mildly tart-sweet with toasted earthy spice, while this dish tastes sticky, sweet-sour, and sharply peppery with warm cumin.
  • Same: Annanas ka Raita shares canned pineapple, cumin seed, and black peppercorn with this dish.
  • Different: Annanas ka Raita uses plain yogurt, granulated sugar, and salt and is tossed as a cooling side, while this dish uses oil, garlic, ginger, dark brown sugar, and malt vinegar and cooks down to a dark syrup.
Pineapple Raita
Pineapple Raita tastes cool and creamy with mild pepper-cumin warmth, while this dish tastes sticky, sweet-sour, and sharply peppery.
  • Same: Pineapple Raita shares canned pineapple, black peppercorn, and cumin seed with this dish.
  • Different: Pineapple Raita uses yogurt as its base and adds granulated sugar and coriander leaves, while it lacks this dish's oil, garlic, ginger, dark brown sugar, and malt vinegar and is not cooked down to a dark syrup.
Annanas ka Sherbet
Pineapple Sherbet
Annanas ka Sherbet tastes sweet, tart, and sparkling chilled, without this dish's sticky syrup texture, warm cumin, or sharp black-pepper bite.
  • Same: Annanas ka Sherbet shares canned pineapple and a sweet ginger note with this dish.
  • Different: Annanas ka Sherbet uses lemon juice, orange juice, sugar, soda water, and ginger ale, and it lacks this dish's oil, cumin, black pepper, malt vinegar, garlic, and fresh ginger; it is mixed and chilled rather than cooked down to a syrup.
Spicy Goan Prawns with Garlic, Chilli & Tamarind
Recheado Jhinge
Spicy Goan Prawns with Garlic, Chilli & Tamarind is fiery and sour from chilli, tamarind and vinegar with a light sweetness and warm clove-cinnamon notes, while this dish is sticky sweet-sour pineapple with warm cumin and a sharp black-pepper bite.
  • Same: Spicy Goan Prawns with Garlic, Chilli & Tamarind shares cumin seed, black peppercorn, garlic, ginger, dark brown sugar and malt vinegar with this dish.
  • Different: Spicy Goan Prawns with Garlic, Chilli & Tamarind adds tiger prawns, Kashmiri chilli, clove, cinnamon, tamarind paste, fish sauce and salt, and the prawns are coated in paste and griddled in their shells; this dish is a pineapple chutney cooked down to a dark syrup and has no prawns, chilli, tamarind or fish sauce.