The thing I love most about the Indian cuisine is the sophisticated and endlessly varied ways of cooking vegetarian fare--grains, legumes, fruits, and vegetables with the help of complex blends of herbs and spices.
And I love the accompaniments to the meal, the delicious breads, sauces, raitas, chutneys, and pickles.
Over the weekend, I made this scrumptious Apricot Chutney, using a variety of dried fruits, along with generous amounts of both fresh garlic and ginger. If you enjoy the ubiquitous Major Grey's Mango Chutney, this rich sweet-sour blend will have even more appeal.
Apricot Chutney
(recipe by Madhur Jaffrey)
1 pound dried apricots
10 large cloves garlic, peeled and coarsely chopped
A 1-inch-by-three-inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and coarsely chopped
1 1/4 cups red wine vinegar
2 cups sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
1/8 to 3/4 tsp. cayenne pepper (I used 1/2 tsp.)
3/4 cup golden raisins
1/2 cup dried currants
Put the apricots in a bowl. Pour 4 cups of hot water over them and let them soak for an hour.
Put the garlic and ginger into the container of a blender or food processor (I used a mini-prep) along with 1/4 cup of the vinegar. Blend until smooth.
Empty the apricots and their soaking liquid into a heavy stainless steel or porcelain lined pot. Add the garlic-ginger mixture, the remaining vinegar, sugar, salt, and cayenne. Bring to a boil. Simmer on medium heat, stirring frequently, for about 45 minutes. Do not let the chutney stick to the pan; lower heat if necessary. Add the raisins and currants and cook, stirring, another half hour or until chutney takes on a thick, glazed look. It will thicken slightly as it cools.
Let the chutney cool and store, refrigerated, in lidded glass jars.
Don't limit yourself to using this as a condiment to Indian meals. I love a peanut butter and chutney sandwich. I've used it on a grilled cheese--delicious! cheese and chutney quesadillas, in chicken salad, spread cream cheese on crackers or toasted baguette slices and top with chutney.
What other ways to use chutney can you think of?
This sounds good, and I love the ideas presented for using in other foods. We don't do curry here, but I like it in a mild sauce.
ReplyDeleteThis looks delicious. I have eaten chutneys at restaurants, but never tried making my own. I am hoping to start on my own Curry Palooza, inspired by your blog post. I have been meaning to try Indian cooking for the longest time. This will be a delicious part of that I think. Now to find a friend to join me in my Indian cooking journey.
ReplyDeleteAbby