Apricot Chutney

Every year I wait for the short window of time when fresh juicy apricots start appearing on fruit stalls, and when they arrive I pick up as many as I can like a greedy kid wanting them all to himself. The season for fresh apricots is so short that you blink and you've missed it and then you wait for another year. Some may argue on why worry when the dried varieties are there in stores all year around, but my friend, a fresh juicy apricot is a thing of joy and the dried variety will always remain a distant cousin. The variety of dishes both sweet and savory that you can do with Apricots are endless and no matter what you try, I can vouch that you will not be disappointed.

The summers are here and so are the Apricots. I have already made a few trips to my fruit and vegetable vendor to pick up this juicy fruit and turn it mouth watering delicacies. This time, I bring you a simple recipe for an Indian Chutney (Relish) made with Apricots. I must warn you though, that this is only the beginning, very soon you will see more posts, but till then try this chutney out and till my next post enjoy the fruit as is. 

Apricot Chutney

(Serves 8)

Ingredients:

Fresh Apricots, skinned, pitted and quartered - 200 gms

(To skin apricots, heat water in a large bottomed pan and drop in the apricots, as the water start to boil. Count till 7 and remove and put in an ice bath. The skin will peel easily now.) 

Onion, finely chopped - 1

Olive Oil - 2 Tblsp

Sugar, granulated - 57 gm

Honey - 58 gm

Raisins - 1/4 Cup

Cider Vinegar - 1/4 Cup

Red Chili Powder - 1 Tsp.

Method:

1. Heat olive oil in a large saucepan.

2. Add onions and saute till they turn translucent (4-5 minutes on low flame).

3. Add in the apricots and mix well. Cook for a minute.

4. Add in the granulated sugar and mix well. Cook for a couple of minutes.

5. Add in the honey and cider vinegar. Mix well.

6. Add in the raisins and red chili powder. Cook over medium heat for 20 minutes stirring, until the relish has thickened.

7. Take off flame and allow to cool.

8. Serve at room temperature or store in an air tight container ( in the refrigerator). It will stay for almost a week.

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Lemon & Red Chili Chutney

Let me begin by wishing everyone a very happy new year. After a very long hiatus, due to work and family commitments, I finally put up a post on this blog. So whoever, thought this blog was dead, will need to wait some more. As a resolution, I plan to devote more time to this blog. So 2011 will see changes in its look and contents as we coast along experiencing this new year.

The current post is a small recipe for a fiery chutney (relish) that goes well with chips or some subtle croquettes. My spouse and I encountered some nice fresh chillies at the local once-a-week 'mandi' (Indian word for market) and we bought loads of them. Now that we had them, we wondered what to do with them apart from the usual Red Chili Pickle which everyone seems to be doing with chillies in Delhi at this time of the year. Thus was born this tasty yet hot relish that we seem to match with every started these days.

Lemon & Red Chili Chutney

Ingredients

Lemons - 4 No.s
Red Chillies - 16 No.s
Garlic - 2 Cloves
Sugar / Honey - 3 Tblsp.
Olive Oil - 4 Tblsp
Mustard Powder, lightly crushed - 2 Tblsp
Vinegar - 2 Tblsp.
Turmeric Powder - 1 Tsp
Black Pepper, freshly ground - 2 Tblsp
Salt - To Taste

Method:
1. Cut the lemons into small pieces and put them in a blender.
2. Chop the chillies into little pieces and add with lemons in blender.
3. Add in all remaining ingredients in the blender. Mix well.
4. Blend this mixture till it is coarse. If you want it fine blend more.
5. Check seasoning. Refrigerate.

Serves - 30 People.

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Pickled Carrot Relish

I have been away for most of the time this month and no post got updated for more than 2 weeks. Well, the real reason for this was the visit of the stork to our household. Yes! we were blessed with a baby boy on 15th Dec'07 at 11:56 AM. Both Mother and child are OK and doing well. This birth completed our family and really tied me up. Since we planned to do it here itself in Hyderabad and not at either of our parents home, it meant that I would need to don another cap...that of being the mom-pop to our elder son. It was a real challenge and I am still grappling with it as I write. The first thing I cooked up after the birth was Poha for breakfast yesterday. Nothing fancy, no experiments, no presentation razzmatazz ...just plain, simple, tasty Poha ...err! the tasty word was added after I got a thumbs up from my mom, who's here taking care of Subha and the new kid. My elder son, as usual did not want anything to do with it and preferred to just drink milk.
Talking about posts, a real big thanks to Vegeyum, for posting my beet thing on her blog ( with some nice variations). It was great to read it in print. Actually, all credits to my wife for making it. This is her trademark recipe. I must say, vegeyum did a brilliant job with the photos. If anybody does not have an apetite, make them browse this site. The photos will surely work up anybody's apetite.
While I 'm thanking my wife for her variations, here's another of my wife's amazing creations. It is easy to make and really adds that zing to the everyday food. You can also have it as a dish.

Ingredients:
Carrots, julienned - 2
Capsicum, julienned - 1
Onion Seeds or nigella seeds (Kalonji) - 2 Tsp
Mustard Oil - 10 ml
Mustard powder - 2 Tsp
Asafoetida (Hing) - A Pinch
Fenugreek seeds powder - 1/2 Tsp
Red Chilli Powder -2 Tsp
Salt - To Taste

Method:
1. Heat oil in a wok, add in the masalas and cook till done.
2. Blanch carrots and capsicum juliennes.
3. Add in the Capsicum and carrots to the oil and masala mixture. Add salt. Cook till done.
4. Serve Cold.

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