Tuesday, October 2, 2007

Jaya Thathi's Apple Carrot Chutney


This fabulous Apple Carrot Chutney is not just pretty on the plate, it is pretty delicious on the palate too! When my mother started making this recipe on a crisp yet sunny fall day many years ago, I was very skeptical about the apple-carrot combination; but Amma just smiled and told me to wait and see. The rest is history!

Autumn with its bounty of fresh apples is the perfect time to make this chutney. The bubbling pot of the apple carrot chutney fills the home with a wonderful aroma and warmth on cool crisp days. A jar of Apple Carrot Chutney makes a wonderful gift for any occasion.

Ingredients:

5 lbs McIntosh Apples
2 lbs Carrots
2.5 lbs Sugar
1 tsp Salt
1 tsp Ground Dry Red Chili
3 Tbsp grated Fresh Ginger
2 Lemons
1/2 tsp freshly ground Cardamom (about 12 pods)
1/4 tsp freshly grated Nutmeg

Method:

Wash the apples, peel, core and dice. Wash, peel and finely dice or shred the carrots. Place apples and salt in a large stock pot with the sugar. Heat, stirring constantly until the sugar draws out the fluid from the apples. Now add the carrots. Stir every few minutes and cook until apples and carrots are soft and the syrup has thickened. Turn off the heat and stir in the ginger, lemon juice and spices. Cool and serve with any meal or bread, toast, cottage cheese or plain yogurt and even ice cream!

For a wonderful appetizer for company, serve the chutney spooned over a mound of cream cheese and sprinkled with coarsely chopped roasted and salted nuts like almonds, pistachios or cashews with whole grain breads, crackers and roasted papadams.

This chutney will last for a few weeks in the refrigerator. Fill sterilized canning jars and process according to manufacturers directions for longer storage.

Note: If McIntosh apples are unavailable, other apples such as Rome beauty, Golden Delicious, Granny Smith, etc. could be substituted alone or in any combination you like. I have made this chutney with Granny Smith alone or with a medley of apples; all were delicious.

This recipe makes enough for about a dozen pint size jars; enough to give a few away to family and friends.

Apple carrot chutney on cinnamon raisin bagel
with cream cheese

5 comments:

Shobhaa said...

Mmmmmmm....Sounds finger-licking tasty! Another flavor of our family until Amma was (physically) here!!!

Will certainly try it , just to walk down the memory lane of those golden days...

Anonymous said...

Walking down memory lanes is certainly a joy! Try this chutney and give your taste buds a treat too!

Anonymous said...

Hi Geetha!

Congrats on getting your blog up and running!
Thank you for sharing all your culinary treats.
Yum!

Peace

Greg

Geetha said...

Thank you Greg for your kind words. I hope these recipes are useful. Enjoy!

Anonymous said...

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