Monday, November 9, 2009

Cranberry Pineapple Chutney/Gojju

I have a friend Savitha, who served us this chutney when we visited her. I asked her how she made it and when she told me the ingredients, I thought I'll try it since it is so easy and can be used with rotis, bread, rice, idlis, dosas. I have been making this regularly now since it comes handy when you run out of time to fix the side dish. These are the proportions that I came up with. I usually don't ask the measurements when it is a non-baking recipe. This stays in the refrigerator for one month. Make ahead and use it when you don't have time to fix something fresh.



Ingredients:
Whole berry cranberry sauce - 2 cans. Any brand will work. If you like it smoother, use jellied cranberry sauce.
Crushed pineapple in juice - 1 can (Or 2 cans. See Notes)
Salt -  to taste
Mustard - 1/2 tsp
Red chillies - 2 broken
Curry leaves -  few
Hing - a pinch
Rasam powder - 1-2 TBSP depending on how spicy you like.
Roast separately and grind together a tsp each of cumin seeds, fenugreek or methi seeds and sesame seeds - optional
Vegetable or canola or peanut oil - 3 TBSP
    Method:
    Drain the pineapple completely. Heat oil in a pan and when hot add mustard seeds. When it sputters, add chillies, curry leaves and hing. Now, add the drained crushed pineapple and the cranberry sauce mix them well. It will mix up once it heats up and the pectin gets loose. Add salt. When the whole mixture starts bubbling, add rasam powder and the spice powder mentioned in 9 above. Check for the seasoning and adjust. Let it stay on low heat for 3 - 4 minutes and then turn it off. This stored properly can stay in the refrigerator for a month if it is not eaten by then. The dish I have used in the picture can hold 4 cups and it has filled till the 4 cup level. This is for the proportions given above. If you are familiar with Gojju pudi (gojju powder), you can use that and skip roasting and powdering the spices. You can use any rasam powder, even store bought MTR or something like that will work very well too.


    My Tips:
    Drain the pineapple really well. If not, you'll be boiling it for a long time. You can stock up on cranberry sauce during thanksgiving season to get good price and use it for the whole year. Sometimes I use 2 cans of crushed pineapple and 2 cans of cranberry sauce.


    Enjoy. Pin It

    5 comments:

    1. lovely chutney...i can imagine how this must have tasted...

      ReplyDelete
    2. First time here Champa!
      Kinda like the idea, will give it a try :)

      ReplyDelete
    3. Smitha, yes more than anything I love the ease of making this.

      ReplyDelete

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