Peach Chutney -InstantPot

Towards the end of the summer, peach tree produces bushels of large fruits with firm and creamy textured yellow flesh. Such a beautiful sight and nature’s blessings it is!

They say nature gives you back 10 fold. So true !! Our peach trees produce luscious peaches that are bursting with full, rich flavor year after year.

My family, neighbors and friends get good portions of peach offerings towards end of the summer. Even after that, there are often plenty of them left. I like to preserve them for my family and friends to taste it when they visit off season again.

All the leftover harvest, I use for making this beautiful Peach Chutney. This chutney is a way to preserve the fruit well after the season is over. It goes well with toast, pancakes, spicy food, with crackers, as part of a chutchurie board, whatever you prefer.

This beautiful looking Peach Chutney is sweet with a little spicy kick and simply the best! It is full of complex flavors with spices like ginger and cumin.

The sweet juicy peaches combined with the distinctive flavors from the roasted cumin seeds is the perfect balance of the spicy sweet and tangy. This unique and delicious combination you will love too.

You can make this Peach Chutney on the stove-top or in the pressure cooker– both methods take about the same time. However, if you use InstantPot, you don’t have to stand by the stove stirring and watching. Plus it controls the splatter better so clean up is easier. So pressure cooking it in the Instant Pot is my preferred method.

To make the jam like consistency, you need to dry out the fruit in it’s own juices. So the cooking time will vary based on how juicy and sweet your peaches are. It will also depend on how big a batch you’re making.

The peaches I used are naturally super sweet. So I do not add any extra sweetener or sugar in this recipe. We like the tangy, sweet interchangeable notes as is.

However, If you prefer sweeter Taste, Add 1/4 cup brown sugar or any other sweetener of your choice while cooking.

Add the chopped peaches and grated ginger into the pan. Add in cayenne pepper powder, salt and apple cider vinegar. Mix to combine the spices with the peaches.

When the fruit comes to a boil, reduce the heat to medium and keep stirring intermittently.
Cook until the peaches are really soft. Mash some of the peaches with the back of a spoon/spatula as the chutney gets cooked.
The chutney is done when it has reduced down to a jam-like consistency. Once the peaches are really soft and chutney has reached a desirable consistency, remove the pan from heat. The chutney will thicken as it cools down.

Let it cool down to room temperature and then serve. Keep the peach chutney refrigerated. It should be good for couple of weeks! In the freezer, I keep it up to 3 months.

Open the lid, turn on SAUTE (High). Keep stirring every 2-3 minutes or so.

The chutney is done when it has reduced down to a jam-like consistency. Cancel the Sauté.

Let it cool down to room temperature and then serve. Keep the peach chutney refrigerated. It should be good for couple of weeks! In the freezer, I keep it up to 3 months.