Chestnut Herbal School

Flavonoid-Rich Hibiscus Chutney Recipe

Written and Photographed by Juliet Blankespoor

-

-

This Hibiscus Chutney is a favorite at my house any time of year, but it makes an especially nice stand-in for cranberry sauce on the holiday table. You can find this recipe below and more in the Chestnut School Herbal Holiday Guide, available each December. Enjoy!

-

-

Hibiscus (Hibiscus sabdariffa, Malvaceae)
Parts Used: Flowers (technically, calyces)

Brewed as a puckery red tea, hibiscus is enjoyed as a refreshing and medicinal beverage throughout the world. The sour red “fruits” are also enjoyed in jams, chutneys, conserves, and alcoholic fermented beverages. Hibiscus has been widely adopted in tropical regions around the globe as a refreshing medicinal food and beverage. It is quite popular in the Caribbean and Central America as a cold herbal tea mixed with sugar; this drink is called sorrel in the islands and agua de flor de Jamaica in Mexico. It is also widely used in Africa and South America as a beverage tea, medicinal herb, and food. In many parts of the world, roselle “fruits” are sold fresh at market. Roselle has been used medicinally in many traditional cultures for its diuretic, hypotensive, and antimicrobial properties. In Mexico, roselle is highly regarded as a natural liver and kidney tonic and weight-loss herb. With its demulcent and soothing qualities, hibiscus is also used acutely to assuage colds, mouth sores, and sore throat.

 

Hibiscus is my kind of herb. It is highly medicinal and nutritive and easily prepared in a hundred different ways. Hibiscus is incredibly safe—it is a traditional food, after all. I readily admit to having dreamed up more recipes with hibiscus than with any other herb. Both the immature leaves and calyces are edible. The flavor of the juicy calyx is often likened to rhubarb or cranberry. It can be eaten raw or cooked. Its sour flavor, coupled with its natural pectin content, readily lends itself to jams, pies, sauces, and chutneys. Infused in honey, hibiscus makes a lovely garnet-colored treat with a delectably fruity flavor. To learn about growing hibiscus in your own garden, please visit my article on the subject.

-

Meet The Green Mastermind Behind Blog Castanea

Juliet Blankespoor

JULIET BLANKESPOOR is the founder, primary instructor, and Creative Director of the Chestnut School of Herbal Medicine, an online school serving thousands of students from around the globe. She's a professional plant-human matchmaker and bonafide plant geek, with a degree in botany and over 30 years of experience teaching and writing about herbalism, medicine making, and organic herb cultivation. Juliet’s lifelong captivation with medicinal weeds and herb gardening has birthed many botanical enterprises over the decades, including an herbal nursery and a farm-to-apothecary herbal products business. 

These days, she channels her botanical obsession through her writing and photography in her online programs, on her personal blog Castanea, and in her new book, The Healing Garden: Cultivating and Handcrafting Herbal Remedies. Juliet and her family reside in a home overrun with houseplants and books in Asheville, North Carolina.

Interested in becoming a contributor?

-

© Chestnut School of Herbal Medicine and chestnutherbs.com, 2011-2020. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Chestnut School of Herbal Medicine and chestnutherbs.com with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Learn more about cultivation, identification, and uses for medicinal herbs in our 1,000-hour Herbal Immersion Program, which is the most comprehensive handcrafted online herbal course out there.

-

full-page-ad

-

4 thoughts on “Flavonoid-Rich Hibiscus Chutney Recipe

  1. Hi. I am very interested in making this chutney. Where can I buy the dried hibiscus called for in the recipe? I live in Oregon and am not sure I can find the fresh plant anywhere local.
    Thanks much

    • Christine Borosh says:

      Dried hibiscus is available from many different herbal suppliers. You’ll find some of our favorite herbal suppliers listed here: Herbal Resources and Links

      If you have a food co-op or natural foods store in your area that has a bulk herb section, you might also find dried hibiscus there.

      We hope you enjoy this recipe!

  2. I bought a hibiscus plant from Walmart. I live in AZ… it has bloomed many times… the flowers are good to eat? The stems aren’t red like yours are in picture/ they’re woody…0k to still harvest?
    Are their poisonous varieties?
    TY

    • Sarah Sorci says:

      So glad your hibiscus plant has offered many lovely blooms! A number of species of hibiscus have edible flowers or leaves, and some are used medicinally–but not all species are considered edible or medicinal. You will want to research the species you have to learn whether it’s traditionally been used this way.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

You may use these HTML tags and attributes:

<a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <s> <strike> <strong>