Strawberry and apple chutney | Spicy Strawberry Chutney | Sweet n Sour Strawberry Dip : A Vegan Dip Recipe

Learn how to make strawberry chutney with a twist. I have adapted the bajji/gojju recipe of South Canara and given a twist to the regular bajji. You can call it strawberry gojju too...

I bought 2 big boxes of strawberry during one of the trips to the supermarket. After coming home, I tasted them and it was a huge disappointment. The strawberries were too sour to my liking. I made milkshakes, lassi with them, but the amount of sugar that went in making the milkshake turned me off. So, I freezed them for later use.

Now that its been a couple of months that I freezed the strawberries, I wanted to finish them as early as possible.. So started making new and interesting experiments using the sour strawberries. I made this chutney last week. We liked the chutney so much that I made it again yesterday. Try it to believe!

Preparation Time: 5 mins
Cooking Time: 10 mins
Serves: 4-6 (Makes about 1.5 cups of chutney)

Notes:

• If the strawberries are very sour, I recommend adding only 4-6 strawberries. Adjust the number of strawberries accordingly. I used only 6 strawberries.
• If the strawberries are too sweet, you could use 8 strawberries and to make the chutney sour, you could use a Granny Smith Apple to add the tart to the chutney.
• Do not use Granny Smith apple and very sour strawberries. You get the point right? We need to add some natural sugar to this chutney.
• I use any other variety of apple (like Fuji apple, gala apples, red delicious apple etc) to make this chutney. The apple adds an extra texture and sweetness to the chutney.
• For a very mild chutney, you could add 1 jalapeno with the seeds removed. I use 2-3 Indian spicy green chilies. We like our chutney spicy.

Ingredients:
For the chutney:
Strawberries: 6-8 nos, refer notes
Apple: 1 no, refer notes
Green bell pepper: 1/2 no or 1 small
Green chilies | Jalapenos : 1-3 nos, adjust according to your spice levels.
Salt:As needed
Cilantro | Coriander leaves: 2 tbsp, roughly chopped
Curry leaves: 4 nos, torn
Asafoetida: 1/8 tsp
Jaggery | Brown Sugar: 1-2 tsp, to suit your needs
Salt: As needed
Grated coconut: 1/4 cup, fresh or frozen
Water: About 1/3 cup, more or less

For the tempering:
Oil: 1 tsp
Mustard seeds: 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves: 2-3 nos, torn

Method:

Wash the apple thoroughly. Deseed the apple and roughly chop the apple. You can keep the skin of the apple.
Wash the strawberries and roughly chop them.
In a sauce pan, add all the ingredients (except grated coconut) mentioned in the chutney section. I repeat, do not add grated coconut. Bring it to a boil on a medium heat for about 7-10 mins. Do not add too much water. The fruits need to get cooked.

Allow the cooked mixture to cool.
Once cool, add coconut to the mixer and add this cooked mixture. Use the boiled water to make the chutney/dip. The water would be very flavorful. Do not discard the water. That is the reason I asked you to add little water in the beginning, remember?

Grind it to a medium coarse paste. Do not grind it very fine. We need some texture to our chutney.
Prepare the tempering. Heat oil in a small wok, when oil is hot, add the mustard seeds and curry leaves. When leaves wilt and seeds splutter, turn off the heat. Pour the tempering over the chutney.
Serve the chutney as a side dish with rice, Indian flat breads, ragi rotti, gluten free sprouts bread or any dish of your preference.

Spinach and apple bajji | Palak and apple gojju | Spinach and Apple Chutney

My son is in “chutney loving phase” now. Gone are his love for idli, dosa, and other South Indian dishes. He loves eating chutney now. He wants chutney three times a day and seven days a week. He wants to eat the chutney with hot rice. I challenge myself to make healthier chutney for him every other day. So, you can expect a lot of chutney recipes here J

This is one chutney I prepared couple of weeks ago and since then I have made it thrice already. It is delicious, healthy and easy to make. It takes about 20 mins to make this chutney.

Preparation Time: 5 mins

Cooking Time: 15 mins

Serves:3-4

Ingredients:

Red apple: 1 large, refer notes

Spinach: 2 cups, tightly packed

Green bell pepper: ¼ cup, cubed

Green chili: 2-3 nos, according to taste

Turmeric: a big pinch

Tamarind: 1 small marble sized

Salt: As needed

Asafoetida: a big pinch

Brown sugar or jaggery: 1 tsp

Coconut: ¼ cup, fresh or frozen

Water: As needed

For tempering:

Coconut oil: 1 tsp

Mustard seeds: ¾ tsp

Curry leaves: 3-4 nos, torn

Method:

• Wash, core and cube the red apples.
• Wash the spinach thoroughly and roughly chop them. Slit the green chilies.
• Add the spinach, cubed bell peppers, slit green chilies, turmeric and cubed red apples to a sauce pan. Add about a cup of water to it.
• Boil the vegetables for 3-4 mins.  Add the tamarind, salt, jaggery and asafoetida to the sauce pan and boil until the vegetables are soft and tender.
• Allow the mixture to cool. If you are using frozen coconut, add the frozen coconut to the vegetable mix and allow to cool.
• Once the mixture comes to room temperature, make a coarse paste of all the ingredients. Do not add too much water. You can add the water that is used for cooking the spinach and apple. Use water wisely.
• Scoop out the paste to a bowl and prepare the tempering.
• Heat oil in a small wok. When oil is hot, throw in the mustard seeds. When mustard seeds crackle, throw in the curry leaves and turn off the heat.
• Add the tempering to the chutney.
• Mix well and serve it hot with rice or chapathi. 

Notes:

• I use red delicious apple or Fuji apple (sweeter apple) for preparing this chutney.  If you are using a sour variety of apple, make sure to use less tamarind and more jaggery.
• Coconut oil tempering is perfect for this chutney, however you are free to use an oil of your choice. 

Spinach Apple Salad with Olive oil & lemon dressing

Though I love eating salads, my hubby's dislike took priority. So, I never made them at home. But, during my recent trip, I made sure to try a new salad whenever I could. After tasting the numerous salads, I totally fell in love with them again. I thought I could make it to myself during afternoons. I bought a big bag of lettuce & other greens to make salad often for my lunch. Here is my first attempt. I loved eating this simple salad that was ready in 5 mins!!!

Preparation Time: 5 mins
Cooking Time: Nil
Serves: 1

Ingredients:
Baby spinach: 2 fistful
Small Fuji apple: 1 no
Roasted walnuts: 2 tsp
Raisins: 2 tsp
Crushed pepper: a big pinch, for the garnish (optional)

For the dressing:
Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO): 2 tsp
Lemon juice: 1 tsp
Salt: A big pinch

Method:
Mix in the EVOO, lemon juice & salt. Whisk & keep them refrigerated for 15 mins.
Wash the spinach leaves & throw the leaves in a bowl.
Dice the apple & throw them on the bed of spinach.
Add in the roasted & chopped walnuts, raisins.
Pour the dressing over the salad, toss & serve immediately.

Notes:

• I tasted a similar salad in one of the restaurants. They added cranberries & blue cheese with vinaigrette dressing. If you wish you could add cranberries or other nuts to make this salad more crunchier!
• Repeating again, toss in the dressing just before serving!
• You could use any of your favorite dressing. It still would taste great.

Green apple pickle

Another must try recipe for pickle lovers!! It is unbelievably tasty & very easy to prepare too.

Many of my friends who tasted this pickle wanted me to re-prioritize my draft posts & requested me to put this first. Here it is for you guys!! Do prepare & let me know.

Preparation time: 10mins
Cooking time: 5 mins
Shelf life: 1 month (without refrigeration)


Ingredients: (For around 1.5 cups of pickle)
Green apple: 3 nos
Oil: 1.5 tsp
Mustard seeds: 1 tsp
Fenugreek seeds: a pinch
Asafoetida: a pinch
Turmeric: a pinch
Salt: 2 tsp
Red chili powder: 1.5 tsp(less spicier variety like Kashmiri chili powder)
Vinegar: 1- 1.5 tbsp (adjust according to the sourness of the green apple)
Fenugreek seeds powder: 1/2 tsp

Method:

• Wash the apples & pat dry them. Ensure there is no moisture.
• De-seed the apple & chop them finely.
• Heat oil in a broad pan. When oil is hot, add mustard seeds. When seeds splutter, add fenugreek seeds & saute for 5-7secs. Add the turmeric, asafoetida. Saute.

• Throw in the chopped green apples & saute them on medium heat for 2-3 mins.

• Add the salt, chili powder. Mix well & saute again for 1-2mins.

• Turn off the heat. Add the vinegar & mix well.

• Allow the pickle to cool. I usually keep the pickle overnight covered.
• Scoop them out to a sterilized bottle & use as required.

Notes:

• This is an instant pickle. You could use it immediately after the pickle is cooled. However, for the flavors to soak in, it is better to wait for 8hours. 
• Apple should not be cooked for more than 5mins. The idea behind it is, apple should be half cooked & crunchy. 
• I have stored this pickle for 1.5 months (without storing it in the fridge).