Banana chutney is so easy to make and the perfect accompaniment to curries, rice and dhals. The ideal preserve for a chutney novice.
I’m a big chutney-phile. Accompanying cold meat or some cheese, we love a big dollop of sweet and vinegary chutney. We also love making it, buying trays of fresh fruit and vegetables from our local market, and simmering them in our largest saucepan. As always I love knowing what goes into my jams and chutneys, and cooking them to my preferred consistency, and I also love experimenting with new ideas.
The range of produce that can be turned into chutney is huge, but one of the less common fruits that makes a great chutney is banana – it may not seem like the obvious thing to make chutney from but they result is delicious. In developing this recipe and experimenting with other fruit chutneys, I had successes and failures: kiwifruit chutney was an interesting experiment, but one not to be repeated.
Banana chutney should really be better known, and it’s actually one of our favourites. The sweetness of the bananas really contrasts with the sharp vinegar and the onion. We serve it with cottage cheese at lunchtime; with cold ham or a blue cheese for a light supper, or with poppadoms when we order a curry, even though I’m sure a strict curry aficionado would be horrified, I don’t care. It’s just too good. It’s a particular favourite served with a lentil dhal and rice, one of my go-to quick, easy and healthy winter supper dishes.
We use our home made pickling vinegar for this recipe. Simply infuse the vinegar with spices for a few weeks before using; for this recipe, a pinch of cumin in the vinegar would be a delicious. The chutney itself is really simple to make. Chop the bananas into chunks, finely chop the onion, and add them both and the rest of the ingredients to a large preserving pan. Simmer gently until there is no free liquid, and transfer the chutney to sterilised jam jars.
Banana chutney at the start of cooking
Banana Chutney halfway through cooking
The finished banana chutney, ready to be poured into sterilised jars – see there is no liquid on the surface
Always pour your hot chutney into well warmed jam jars. I use a Pyrex jug and a jam funnel. Because of all the sugar the temperature of the simmering chutney will be way above boiling point and pouring into cold jars can crack them. For this reason it is best to stand them in a roasting tin – just in case they do shatter and chutney goes everywhere. Once poured give them a good tap on a chopping board to bring any air bubbles to the top, then seal.
The chutney is best kept in a dark cool cupboard for a couple of months to mature, but can be eaten straight away. As it matures it will darken. We had a jar that had been in the cupboard for well over 5 years which was still delicious!
This recipe is for a plainer chutney, but there are many ways to adapt this recipe. Banana and date chutney is a real winner (leave out two bananas and add a cup of chopped dates), or dry fry some spices in the preserving pan and make a curried banana chutney; I would use some curry powder and cumin.
- 5 lb bananas - peeled and sliced (peeled weight - about 25 bananas)
- 1.5 lb sugar (white)
- 1 lb onions – finely chopped (4 medium onions)
- 1 pint pickling vinegar
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Place all the ingredients in a large preserving pan using homemade pickling vinegar and simmer, gently stirring from time to time to ensure they do not stick to the base. The chutney will take around 40 mins to an hour to cook. It is done when a reddish gold colour and when there is no free liquid when you drag a spoon across the top of it.
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You could add some chillies to the chutney, but I like mine to be plain bananas and more cooling.
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Pour into sterilised* jars and seal down.
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This amount should make about 8 to 10 medium jars. The chutney is ready to eat immediately, but will improve upon keeping. It will keep for several years before opening.
To sterilise jars simply pop in the oven on GM 1 (275F / 140 C) for 20 mins and put the lids into a bowl and pour boiling water over.
Home-made banana chutney recipe originally published September 2007. Updated July 2017.
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Wow! That sounds really great!
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that sounds great, I would love to try some of the preserve! Thank you for your entry — Mandira
I would never have thought of making chutney from bananas, and yet it’s so obvious. Sounds delicious.
Thanks for sharing
Joanna
joannasfood.blogspot.com
The banana chutney does taste of bananas, but yet it doesn’t, its quite odd. But it works wonderfully with any curry.
I think that I first made it after padding out a Thai red curry with a chopped banana.
Thanks for the kind comments everyone!
Wow – looks fantastic! I love bananas but the most creative thing I’ve made with them is banana bread.
What would you eat with the banana chutney?
can you make this lovely chutney with a normal large saucepan? or does it really need a preserving pan?
I use my stockpot for all preserving.
It seems to work well, as long as you watch it carefully.
My mum used to always add sliced banana to her curries when i was a child. I just can’t imagine what banana chutney tastes like though. Never heard of it before. I am sure my mother would approve.
it is SO good. Make a batch
This sounds delicious! I have some spiced banana ketchup that I use a lot so totally see how the banana works for savoury things. When I run out I will give your chutney a try!
spiced banana ketchup sounds amazing!
I didn’t know you could make chutney out of bananas. Sounds sweet and moreish!
It is incredibly good. Probably our favourite chutney.
I’ve never tried banana chutney before, but it sounds really delicious. Pinning for later!
It is so good. Perfect with rice and curry.
You know thats a pretty interesting recipe. I know of mango chutney which is kind of traditional in some places. But this is great to use bananas for a sweet spicy chutney.
Its delicious. We sometimes add dates or spice, but I far prefer plain flavoured chutneys.
Yum yum yum! I also LOVE chutney and find it especially fitting on watermelon during the summer. I have to try banana chutney now, thanks for the inspiration
What a great idea to serve chutney with watermelon!
This sounds so intriguing. I haven’t had chutney before so am curious about the food parings. Thanks for sharing the recipe.
We love chutney here.
I love making chutney, our plum trees are popping with fruit so we will be on that next week. I’ve never heard of banana chutney but it sounds great.
I am so envious of the plum tree