Apple Chutney

Hey, folks, it’s a new month, and I feel free as a bird! Well, okay, at least free enough to tell you about recipes that don’t have anything to do with German cooking! (Yeah, I’m still learning about this blog-stuff. I make plans and rules, and then I want to break them.)

The following recipe is lifted from Indobase.com, and I made it recently to go with a lovely dinner I made of saag (cooked spinach with ginger and spices), chawal (rice), and some vegetable and paneer tikka masala (a curry with vegetable and homemade Indian cheese).

Why apple chutney? . . . Because my folks just gave us about a bushel of Jonathans, and they can’t all go into pies!

I’ve put the recipe into my own words and changed just a few things (like saying “powdered cayenne” instead of “red chili powder”). To see the original recipe, please go to this page.




One more note: My goodness, this is really, really good! I recommend serving it this Thanksgiving as a relish, either hot or cold. It seems like it would be fantastic with turkey, or nestled up against some cooked sweet potatoes.

Or you could dip tortilla chips into it . . .

Sue likes it, too. She says, “If you’ve never had a chutney, this would be a good one to introduce you to what chutneys are like. It’s so much like applesauce, it’s kind of familiar. And yet there are so many other things in there—including a little bit of heat—you’ll be thinking ‘Man, this is good!’”

She’s right—it’s not too far away from good ol’ applesauce. There are other apple chutney recipes that contain onions and such that would be a little more of a stretch for the American palate. But this should appeal to just about anyone.

Apple Chutney
recipe shamelessly adapted from Indobase.com

3 apples (cooking type, like Jonathans)
1 Tbsp. olive oil
seeds of 1 green cardamom pod, crushed and ground
2 bay leaves
2 cinnamon sticks
1/4 tsp. turmeric
1 tsp. powdered cayenne
1 tsp. coriander powder
4–5 tsp. sugar
salt to taste

Peel and chop the apples into small pieces. Place in a food processor and grind with a little water.

In a saucepan, heat the olive oil. Add cardamom, bay leaves, and cinnamon sticks and heat for a few moments to bring out flavors of spices.

Add the apples, turmeric, cayenne, and coriander, and cook for a few minutes. Add the sugar and salt, and cook another minute or so.

Can serve hot or cold as a relish.