Pear Sweet and Sour Sauce

What will you do when you have nice pears on the counter that nobody wants to touch because they are not pretty? I had to do something about them because I was the one who bought them. They were firm, nice and sweet just with some dots on the skin and my kids wouldn't touch them. They refused to believe that they are pears. If you have kids, you know better than to argue with them.

I suddenly remembered a spicy apple chutney one of my friends had made one day. She was calling it 'Spicy Applesauce' and to be honest, I do not remember how she made it. I came up with my own and made a 'Sweet and Sour Sauce with Pear' or 'Pear Sweet and Sour Sauce'. This can be easily converted into chutney by adding less water.

Here goes my recipe..

Ingredients:

• Pears - 3 ripe but not over ripe. Cored with skin on
• Tamarind - A big marble size
• Red chilli powder - 1/2 tsp or to taste (I used extra hot chilli powder)
• Dhania Jeera powder / Cumin Coriander powder - 1 tsp
• Salt - to taste
• Jaggery - a lemon size
• Oil - 1 TBSP
• Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp

Method:
Chop all the pears. Place in a sauce pan. Soak tamarind in about 1/2 cup of water for 10 minutes. Extract juice from the tamarind and pour it on the pears. Add more water if needed to just cover the pears. Start heating. When they start simmering, add salt, chilli powder, dhania jeera powder, jaggery and let it boil for 3 - 4 minutes until the raw smell of jaggery disappears. Switch off the stove and let it cool for about 5 minutes. Transfer it to blender / mixie jar and grind into paste. I left out some chunks so that it doesn't feel like we are eating applesauce. Heat oil in a pan and when hot, add mustard seeds. When they splutter, add the oil to the sauce you made. You can skip this if you want to keep it fat free.  It was so yummy that I was licking the spoon. You can serve this with anything that you will serve with sweet tamarind chutney like samosa, bonda, bhajis or even idli.

Variations: 
You can add some cumin seeds to the tadka / tempering. You can add onions and garlic too. You'll have to saute them in oil and then add to cooked pears.

You could add some cumin seeds for the tadka.

I am sending this to 'Think Beyond the Usual - Soup, Curry and Chutney with Fruits' hosted at Nithu's Kitchen.

I am sending her some more entries from the archive.

Cranberry Pineapple Chutney/Gojju
Yam and Apple Kofta and Curry
Green Mango Apple Gojju
Green Mango Onion Subzi 
Apple Dhideer Uppinakayi / Instant Apple Pickle

Happy Cooking!! Pin It