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I got an apple chutney recipe from a friend. It's an old family recipe and it specifically says to chop the apples but to NOT core or peel them. The recipe is basically just apples and pears, red onions, raisins, brown sugar, cider vinegar and various spices which you simmer gently for a couple of hours. It says nothing about straining or grinding. The onions are finely sliced and it says "chop apples and pears roughly but without coring."

Does the vinegar somehow soften the seeds and core of the apple? Is that important to the taste or texture? I am hesitant to used the whole apple as most recipes I have found online say to core or even peel and core.

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  • A little more information about the chutney recipe in question might be helpful, answers may vary based on the procedure - if the apple is cooked down into sauce, for example, it may be the core and seeds are simply picked or strained out of softened apple; if it is an Indian-style ground chutney, it may be the grinding evens the texture enough that the core and even possibly seeds don't matter (or are again picked out at a later step); while a chunky jam-style western chutney may have to rely on softening the core or dealing with the texture a different way.
    – Megha
    Commented Oct 15, 2016 at 11:53
  • Well it's basically just apples and pears, red onions, raisins, brown sugar and various spices which you simmer gently for a couple of hours. It says nothing about straining or grinding. The onions are finely sliced and it says "chop apples and pears roughly but without coring". Does that help?
    – Sarah F
    Commented Oct 15, 2016 at 12:32
  • More information is almost always helpful. I myself am more familiar with the smoothly ground Indian style chutneys, so I can't really say why the core might be included, or how the texture will play out in your particular recipe - on the other hand, the people who have more experience with western style chutneys may find the extra information useful. I hope you find an answer, it is an interesting question :)
    – Megha
    Commented Oct 15, 2016 at 13:35

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Apple cores contain more pectin than the rest of the apple, so including the cores will likely get you a thicker, more gelled chutney.

With enough cooking they'll indeed soften, as long as it's an apple variety that softens when cooked (as opposed to baking varieties that hold their shape) so it's really just the seeds you'd have to worry about. Sounds like the recipe doesn't really deal with them, so I guess you'd have to pick them out after chopping, or strain or pick them out at the end.

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