The Difference Between a Chilli Jam and a Chutney (2024)

FAQs

The Difference Between a Chilli Jam and a Chutney? ›

Both a jam and a chutney will contain sugar, although a jam would be much sweeter, with the chutney having a more acidic, tangy flavour from the addition of vinegar. To preserve a chutney a combination of vinegar and sugar are used, whilst in a jam it is the sugar alone which acts as the preserving agent.

Most chutneys are jams, without the pectin and with an addition of vinegar, dried fruit, and spices for savory notes. Indian cuisine often pairs mango-rich and acidic chutneys with spicy mains. There is no added pectin in a chutney, and the added sugar tends to be a little bit lower.

Chutney is a savory condiment made from slow-cooked fruits or vegetables, vinegar, and spices. Originating from India, chutneys have traveled the globe, and every country has its own take on this versatile condiment. Chutneys from South Africa often include apricots, while British chutneys favor using apples.

The second chilli jam vs chilli sauce difference is sweetness. Unless you've got a super sweet hot sauce, a chilli jam will typically be a lot sweeter. This sweetness is what makes a jam so versatile, it works on pizza, fried chicken, with cheese or almost anything else (our top 6 uses of jam are here).

Relishes, on the other hand, are cooked for a shorter time, with the resultant relish chunkier and more sharply flavoured than a chutney. Some people argue that a chutney will always contain mainly fruit or a mixture of fruits, and relishes are generally made of vegetables, and usually one variety.

Both a jam and a chutney will contain sugar, although a jam would be much sweeter, with the chutney having a more acidic, tangy flavour from the addition of vinegar. To preserve a chutney a combination of vinegar and sugar are used, whilst in a jam it is the sugar alone which acts as the preserving agent.

On the other hand, vegetable marmalade mustn't be confused with chutney, a sweet-and-sour condiment made with vegetables, fruit, herbs and spices, borrowed from Indian cuisine. Marmalade and jam are considerably less acid than chutney.

Stateside, chutneys are somewhere between a jam, a relish, and a jelly, but in India, that's just the tip of the chutney iceberg.

(ˈtʃʌtni) noun. a sauce or relish of Asian origin, often compounded of both sweet and sour ingredients, as fruits and herbs, with spices and other seasoning. Also: chutnee.

Do you store chilli jam in the fridge? ›

If it's firm and set, the jam is ready. Store, unopened, for up to 6 months. Once opened, store in fridge for up to 2 months.

Marmalata – Italian Chilli Jam.

The word chutney derives from Hindi चटनी chaṭnī, deriving from चाटना chāṭnā 'to lick' or 'to eat with appetite'. In India, chutney refers to fresh and pickled preparations indiscriminately; however, several Indian languages use the word for fresh preparations only.

Typically, you would serve chutney when it has been set to room temperature, this is where the condiment is the best performing. We now know that chutney does work well with hot food, but pairing it with cold food can satisfy pretty much anyone.

The Western definition of chutney is savory jam. So a jam would become a chutney when one adds savory ingredients like vinegar and mustard seeds. A jam is fruit and sugar. A chutney is fruit, sugar and vinegar, and a jelly is fruit juice, sugar, and pectin as a gelling agent.

Jams and jellies are both soft, sweet spreads made from fruit, sugar and pectin. The main difference between jam and jelly is that jam is made with fruit whereas jelly is made with fruit juice.

What is the American English for jam? Well, the word jam is used in the US, though the more common term is jelly. In US English, the technical distinction is that jams contain both the juice and flesh of the fruit, whereas jellies don't contain any of the flesh.

Jam and jelly have virtually the same nutritional value, fruity taste, and spreadable texture. Thus, you can use them interchangeably. That said, some studies have analyzed the nutritional profile of jams after 9 months in storage and observed no significant losses in their antioxidant content.

Chutney is a type of jam made without any additional pectin and flavored with vinegar and various spices, and it's often found in Indian cuisines. Preserves contain the most physical fruit of the bunch — either chopped into larger pieces or preserved whole, in the case of things like cherry or strawberry preserves.