Runner Bean Chutney Not Thickening . . .

[shivvy]

I am making this chutney but I can't get it to thicken after adding the cornflour/mustard etc mix. It isn't breaking down and thickening as I would expect. It is floating around instead! Any ideas?

800ml malt vinegar
1kg cooked runner or french beans, cut into 1cm pieces
5 medium white onions, finely diced
800g demerara sugar
1½ tbsp cornflour
1½ tbsp turmeric
1 tbsp dried mustard powder
1 tbsp salt

1 Put the vinegar, the cooked beans, the onions and the sugar into a large saucepan and cook for 15 minutes over a medium heat.
2 In a separate bowl, mix the cornflour, turmeric, salt and mustard to a paste with a tablespoon of water.
3 Add the paste to the beans and continue to cook for a further 10 minutes until the chutney has thickened to a desirable consistency.
4 Bottle the chutney in clean sterilised jars and keep for at least a week before using to give the flavours time to mature and meld.

[Buenchico]

This thread suggests using a lower temperature but giving it longer:
https://www.accidentalsmallholder.net/forum/index.php?topic=17537.0

Nigella's site suggests putting your runny chutney back into a pan, bringing it to the boil and simmering it until it thickens (which is exactly what my mother would have done with runny jam):
https://www.nigella.com/ask/runny-chutney

[tamborine]

add smash to thicken

[shivvy]

Yes Buenchico I saw those sites too thanks.

I don't want to keep cooking it for longer or the beans will lose their firmness/texture.
I suppose I could live with the chutney being a bit runny so my issue really is how to dissolve the cornflour mix into the chutney so it isn't floating around in lumps!

[Buenchico]

Heat the chutney gently. Add a small amount of cornflour and stir until it's thoroughly absorbed. Repeat, repeat and repeat until the chutney has thickened and/or you're totally fed up of the whole thing ;-)

[woofgang]

strain out the beans and reserve, reduce the rest of the chutney then add the beans again.

[woofgang]

oh adding the cornflour is easy....scoop out some of the liqquid and allow it to cool mix that with the cornflour to make a thick runny consistency and then with the chutney off the heat pour the mixture in slowly stirring all the time. Put it back on the heat to thicken the mixture, repeat as often as needed....you can scoop out enough liquid for several addtions at once to speed things up....once you are happy with the chutney consistencey, add back in any leftover liquid.

[shivvy]

That is what I should have done woofgang. That is what I would usually do. But this time I just followed the recipe - mistake!

I couldn't strain out the beans because the undissolved lumps would have been strained with the beans. So I squished as many of the lumps as I could against the back of a spoon and just kept an eye out for any remaining lumps as I was putting it into the jars.

[gingejbee]

I much prefer arrowroot to cornflour for thickening...no lumps, it's foolproof and doesn't need "cooking out".

[Tilly2]

In a separate bowl, mix the cornflour, turmeric, salt and mustard to a paste with a tablespoon of water.

You didn't dissolve all the cornflour properly, I suspect. I hope it turns out ok after the trouble you have gone to.

[gingejbee]

^^^you're not actually dissolving the cornflour (or arrowroot) because it's insoluble- you're simply making a suspension.

[Tilly2]

OK, Ginge. I used the wrong terminology. :-)

[shivvy]

Tilly - I blended everything ok, it was lovely and smooth, it just didn't disperse when I added it to the chutney!
Gingejbee - I always associate arrowroot with baking more than savoury cooking. I will give it a try.

[tamborine]

test my method - In half cup chutney add teaspoons of pkt smash to required consistency & taste. Much easier than more faffing.

[gingejbee]

Tilly...sorry, but it's my scientific background...dissolve and suspend are totally different.
chivvy....arrowroot is excellent for thickening all sorts of savoury things that you could use cornflour in.

[Tilly2]

Ginge, it's ok. No need to apologise. I am quite happy to be corrected if I have got something totally wrong. It's a lesson learned. :-)