Wait a minute, plums on keto? But aren’t they too high in carbs? Before you berate me, let me convince you that this tasty 5-ingredient condiment really is keto. I’ve taken (literally!) every measure to make this chutney as low in carbs as possible. Read on to find the secrets behind this flavorful keto chutney.
How to prepare the Spicy Keto Plum Chutney
So, you’ll need just five ingredients to prepare this flavorful chutney — though you can naturally use more spices and seasonings if you like. More tips at the end of the post.
First, take 2 lbs (900 g) fresh plums and place them into a huge saucepan. I say huge because the ingredients need plenty of space.
Next, take 1 lb (450 g) chopped leek. Now, the amount of chopped leek should be that 1 lb (450 g), so you need a bit more leek because after removing the outer parts, you’ll naturally lose some. Use both green and white parts from the leek.
Then will come the seasonings, so 4 garlic cloves…
…and 1 fresh chili (red, green, or whichever color you like), chopped. You can remove the seeds and membranes for less heat if you like. And naturally, you can use as strong or as mild chili as you like.
Finally, add 2/3 cup (160 ml) raw apple cider vinegar. It provides a crisp yet gentle tang and some liquid to boil the ingredients.
Mix well.
Place the saucepan on the stove and heat over high heat, bringing to a boil.
Once boiling, reduce the heat to a minimum. Let simmer about 3 hours, covered…
…until the plums and the leek are completely soft. Mix once in a while when cooking. Be sure that the mixture doesn’t get stuck to the bottom of the saucepan. If that is about to happen, add a tablespoon or two water and make sure the heat is really at the minimum.
Once all ingredients are soft, press the chutney through a mesh strainer with a back of a spoon…
…so that only the pits remain. Discard the pits. If the chutney is too runny, let it simmer in a saucepan without a lid until desired consistency. A really fine mesh strainer might not work that well. Mine in the photo was a tad too fine. In the worst case (or if you don’t have a strainer), you might end up picking the pits with your hands.
Now, the chutney is relatively chunky. I like my chutney chunky, but if you fancy smooth chutney, use an immersion blender or a regular blender to blend it smooth.
Transfer into glass jars and consume within two weeks. Store in the fridge.
Yum!
How I came up with this keto chutney recipe
You might remember that in my last week’s post, I was musing over the idea of plum chutney — and that the idea for a keto plum chutney originates from my Finnish keto-vegan book. Plus one reader had wished the recipe also in English.
Last week, I was too busy to develop the recipe. Moreover, it was raining the whole week, so I couldn’t even pick the plums from our plum tree. But luckily, at the beginning of this week, the sun was shining, and I was able to pick the rest of the plums that were about to turn overripe.
I took my Finnish plum chutney recipe and thought the carb count is a tad too high, so I wanted to see if I can lower it. The Finnish recipe called for an ample amount of plums plus some regular onion. I thought that if I’ll reduce the amount of plums and add more onion, the carb count will get lower as onion is lower in carbs than plums. By the way, did you know that plums have precisely the same amount of carbs as strawberries?
After some calculations, I wasn’t still happy with the carb count. I started pondering over different types of onions. Soon, I remembered leeks are the lowest in carbs, and if I use those instead of regular onion, the carb count will get really low.
I recalculated the macros with leeks, and after the ingredients and the amounts looked good in the paper, it was the time to see how the recipe turns out in real life.
My Finnish recipe uses a whole bulb of garlic, but I thought 4 garlic cloves would do the job as leek has quite a powerful taste — that I was hoping is a perfect match with chutney! Moreover, I decided to add fresh chili to lend a spicy kick to the chutney.
I also needed raw apple cider vinegar to provide both liquid for boiling the ingredients and lend a nice tang to the chutney. I always want my chutneys tangy and oniony.
I was ready to start conducting my experiments. Using exactly the same method as in my existing plum chutney recipe, I ended up with quite exactly 1,000 grams of chunky, delicious, and tangy chutney. There was just enough tang from the vinegar, kick from the chili, and oniony flavors from the leek and garlic. And naturally, the fruity taste of plum was super-delicious! I ate the chutney first with lamb meat but realized it’s also a perfect companion to chicken meat — and also beef and sausages. And since it’s so full of flavor, you need only a tablespoon or two!
Here’s the recipe for you to enjoy:
Spicy Keto Plum Chutney
Wait a minute, plums on keto? But aren’t they too high in carbs? Before you berate me, let me convince you that this tasty 5-ingredient condiment really is keto. I've taken (literally!) every measure to make this chutney as low in carbs as possible. Read on to find the secrets behind this flavorful keto chutney.
Ingredients
- 2 lbs = 900 g plums
- 1 lb = 450 g leek
- 4 garlic cloves
- 2/3 cup = 160 ml raw apple cider vinegar
- 1 fresh red or green chili, chopped
Instructions
- Place all ingredients in a large saucepan.
- Heat over high heat and bring to a boil.
- Once boiling, reduce the heat to a minimum. Cover with a lid and let the chutney simmer for 3 hours, or until all ingredients are very soft and almost no liquid is left. Mix a few times during cooking. Make sure the chutney doesn't get stuck to the bottom of the saucepan. If that's about to happen, add a couple of tablespoons of water.
- Press the chutney through a mesh strainer with a back of a spoon so that only the pits remain. Discard the pits.
- Transfer into jars and consume within two weeks. Store in the fridge.
Recommended Products
As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases - without any extra costs for you.
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Organic Whole Nutmeg (3.5 oz), Premium Grade, Harvested & Packed from a USDA Certified Organic Farm in Sri Lanka (stand up resealable pouch) -
Frontier Co-op Cinnamon Powder, Ceylon, Certified Organic, Kosher, Non-irradiated | 1 lb. Bulk Bag | Sustainably Grown | Cinnamomum verum J. Presl -
Frontier Co-op Star Anise Whole, Select Grade (minimum 75% whole stars), Certified Organic, Kosher | 1 lb. Bulk Bag | Illicium verum Hook. f. -
NOW Foods, Better Stevia Liquid, Glycerite, Zero-Calorie Liquid Sweetener, Low Glycemic Impact, Certified Non-GMO, 8-Ounce -
Powdered Erythritol Sweetener - 1:1 Sugar Substitute, Keto - 0 Calorie, 0 Net Carb, Non-GMO (2.5 lbs / 40 oz) -
Bragg Organic Apple Cider Vinegar With the Mother– USDA Certified Organic – Raw, Unfiltered All Natural Ingredients, 16 ounce, 2 Pack
| Nutrition information | In total | Per tablespoon |
| Protein | 15.7 g | 0.2 g |
| Fat | 3.5 g | 0.1 g |
| Net carbs | 84.2 g | 1.3 g |
| kcal | 541 kcal | 8 kcal |
How to vary the recipe
Instead of apple cider vinegar, feel free to use other types of vinegar. Coconut vinegar is an incredible and tasty option. I wouldn’t recommend a very strong vinegar to this recipe — unless you fancy particularly tangy flavors.
You can make the chutney spicier if you like, or use other matching seasonings, like star anise, Ceylon cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, ginger, vanilla, fenugreek, lemon peel, or nutmeg — or even pumpkin pie seasoning! The Finnish recipe I talked about contains star anise, Ceylon cinnamon, and ginger.
If you prefer your chutney sweet, feel free to add powdered erythritol or stevia glycerite to taste.
General prattling
Another busy week has passed. Wednesday was the busiest day as I spent the whole day in Helsinki with other Ketokamus. Since we started early in the morning, we overnighted in an old school close to Helsinki. On the previous day, Olli Posti picked us up with his brand new Tesla. I have to say the ride was super-comfortable and the acceleration properties of Tesla are better than in any machine in an amusement park!
On Wednesday morning, my smaller publisher house, Viisas Elämä, had organized a PR breakfast for us authors and media representatives. We authors were interviewed shortly. Here I am with the book that launched at the beginning of the year (the second part of which I’m writing now and whose deadline is actually tomorrow):
Other Ketokamus, Markus and Eeva (our newest member) joined me the happening. Here we are with Kukkis, Parsis, and my book:
After the PR breakfast, we went to the railway station of Helsinki to give away a few hundreds of our soups, Kukkis and Parsis. People were totally amazed to get something of that high quality for free!
After giving away the soups, we went to Ruohonjuuri in Kamppi to let people taste the soups. The feedback was again very positive.
Oh yes, our soups have reached the second-largest retailer chain, Kesko, and the first soups were delivered to K-Market Pyynikinkulma here in Tampere. Great move! Of course, we went there and were happy to see our soups.
Here are some more highlights. Before going to Helsinki, we visited quickly Ruohonjuuri Tampere to fetch some snacks.
Eeva posted a nice story to Instagram. I’m in Ruohonjuuri Kamppi with my books they sell also there.
Another highlight of the week was when the institute I was studying nutritional therapy asked me to teach keto in practice. My course will be in January. Actually, it’s a two-day course, where my former teacher is teaching about keto and its theory on the first day, and on the second day, I will teach how to apply keto in practice and in everyday life. The course is targeted for nutritional therapists and other professionals, but I think it’s basically free for anyone.
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