Five cheap and easy tips to make perfect presents by creating homemade chutney jars

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LOVE homemade chutney but in a pickle about where to start?

It’s cheap and easy to make plus the preserved veg can last you all winter. They also make perfect presents.

KEEP IT CLEAN

You must sterilise jars before storing your preserves but it’s not as difficult as it sounds.

Pre-heat the oven to 140C. Wash the jars thoroughly but don’t dry them.

Place them on a baking tray and then put them in the oven for ten minutes.

Timing is important, because you should fill the jars while both the chutney and jars are still piping hot, so start getting your jars sorted when your sauce is around 20 minutes from being ready.

AUTUMN IN A JAR

Combine the classic tastes of apples and plums in an easy seasonal plum chutney.

Just add the fruit and the other store cupboard ingredients and simmer for around an hour.

Decant into sterilised jars and store. Find the whole one-pan recipe at asda.com.

PRESERVE YOUR PATIENCE

The key to a flavoursome chutney is waiting until the vinegar taste, which can be overpowering at the start, has mellowed.

Unless a recipe says differently, you need to store pickles and chutneys for at least three months before eating.

Keep them in a cool, dry, dark place such as a cupboard under the stairs or a box in the garage.

SLOWLY DOES IT

For a low-cost, stress-free recipe, try the Basic Chutney at netmums.com, made in a slow cooker.

The recipe shows that you can use almost any fruit or veg to make the tangy sauce, and you can add extra taste with the herbs and spices.

Just use cheap sugar, vinegar and cooking apples as the base.

PICKLED PRESENTS

A jar of DIY chutney can be a perfect present. Make them now just in time for Christmas.

There are 27 Christmas Chutney recipes at bbc.co.uk/food.

Finish them off using the Ginger Ray gingham jam jar topper kit, £4.30 from Hobbycraft, with 20 fabric toppers, tags and twine.

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