Chutneys and sauces
Practical Action
Sauces, ketchup and pastes
Sauces and purees are thick viscous liquids made from pulped fruit and vegetables. Salt, sugar
and vinegar are added to the pulp to preserve the product. The sauce is pasteurised to remove
spoilage micro-organisms. If sauces and purees are heated further to remove more water, they
can be made into paste.
Quality control
When preparing a chutney or sauce, it is important that the correct levels of acidity and total
sugar content are achieved, to ensure that the product does not spoil during storage. The
preservation index is a measure of the combined acidity and total solids. It is calculated
according to the following formula:
Total acidity x 100
(100-total solids)
= not less than 3.6%
Sauce and chutney – process details and quality assurance
Selection and preparation of the fruit or vegetable
Sort the fruit and vegetables. Remove those that are over-ripe, rotten or bruised. Leave under-
ripe products to ripen and use at a later date.
Wash the fruit and vegetables in clean water.
Some fruits, particularly tomatoes, are blanched in hot water for up to 5 minutes to soften the
skin and to destroy enzymes and microbes. After blanching, they should be cooled by plunging
into cold water.
Some fruits should be peeled before use. Chop the fruit and vegetables into various sized pieces
according to the recipe.
Preparation of the jars and lids
For glass jars: Wash the jars and lids and put them into a large saucepan. Fill the saucepan with
water so that the jars and lids are covered and heat until the water boils. Boil for about 5
minutes. Remove the jars and turn upside down so that the water can all drain out.
DO NOT dry them with a dirty cloth.
If you are using recycled plastic jars, clean them with a solution of chlorinated water (100ppm).
Turn upside down so all the water can drain out.
Pulp/juice extraction – for sauce
Extract the fruit pulp with a manual pulper or a pulper-finisher that separates out the seeds and
skins from the pulp. Pass the seeds and skin through the pulper a second time to obtain the
maximum amount of juice and pulp from the fruit.
If you do not have a pulper or mouli, heat the fruit gently with a little water to extract the juice.
Pass the fruit through a sieve or extract the juice using a muslin bag. The acidity of the pulp
should be 4.0 or lower. The following recipes are all tried and tested so the pH does not need to
be measured. If you are making your own chutney from a new recipe, you should check the
acidity of the pulp with a pH meter or pH paper. If it is above 4.0, add lemon juice to reduce it.
Added ingredients
Spices
You can add a range of spices to chutneys and sauces to suit your taste. Any spices you use
should be clean and in good condition. Some need to be roasted before use. If you are making
products for sale, you need to make sure that you use the same recipe formulation and add
EXACTLY the same amount of spice to each batch that you make. Always use the same
measuring spoon or container.
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