Since you are working with high acid fruits,

(1)as long as you keep the total amount of ingredients the same as the approved, tested recipe and

(2)as long as you keep the ratio of acidity the same you should be safe. But there are no safety guarantees.

(3) You should also use dried herbs/spices rather than fresh for any changes you make to avoid affecting the pH.

The limes will add some additional acid but don't count it as part of your required acid since there is no way to know how much difference it will make.

Dave

Here is a link that might be useful: NCHFP - Preservation Principles of Chutneys

I agree, you can sub fruits for fruits, but be careful on those lentils and nuts.

I have conserves that include nuts and they tend to get soggy and I don't like them as well.

Annie

Speaking of chutneys - we've been using either white wine vinegar or red wine vinegar, depending on the ingredients, which ads another flavor dimension.

Re nuts and lentils, there's another twist on canned chutney we've found - use the canned stuff as a base, and then add any combination of fresh herbs, fresh citrus zest, freshly squeezed lemon/lime to fit the dish you're serving it with - it really livens things up.

I am soon going to make a batch of dried tomato, dried sweet cherries, raisins (a filler), and chipotle, using red wine vinegar and brown sugar.

ps. How does one refer to a chutney fan? "Chutneyite"? "Chut-nista"?

Dave, thank you for that link, it will be very helpful!

Perhaps I'm better off toasting a few nuts or lentils quickly to add when I serve, it's not like it takes very long.

I wonder why dried herbs are safer than fresh? Because of the moisture content perhaps? So frozen wouldn't be any different from fresh...frozen kari leaves aren't as good as fresh, but dried don't have near the flavor of either.

I play a bit with vinegars as well, as long as they are the proper acidity. I would love to use my home made red and white wine vinegars, because their flavors are so much deeper and more complex than store-bought, but I don't dare as I have absolutely no idea what acidity level they reach.

Thanks, folks, for the responses. I'm off to chop apples. :D

Happy to see another chutney...umm... afficionado here! Your ideas for spice blends sound lovely.

I believe the issue with fresh vs. dry herbs is that fresh herbs have their own, low-acid moisture in them, whereas dry ones, when they rehydrate in the liquid of the recipe, pick up nice high-acid liquid and effectively become high acid themselves.

Agree - fresh herbs are low-acid and can alter the pH of the food. How much is unknown and depends on how much one uses. Thus the guidelines for using dried herbs only, with few exceptions, in home canned recipes. And yes, frozen are same as fresh.

As Lisa said, dried herbs will reconstitute with an acid pH and some of use intentionally pre-soak them in vinegar or bottled lemon juice before adding them to the recipe just to insure their acidic pH.

As you said in your OP we shouldn't "play" with canning recipes. There is a bit of leeway, but it is just a BIT. ;)

Dave

BTW, Dave, I like your term "acid pH". It is less confusing than "low pH" even when we all know what that means. :)