A lip smacking sweet, tangy and garam masala spiced, versatile cranberry and apple chutney that pairs well with roasts, toasts, crackers, Indian snacks etc. This vegan, quick and easy recipe is a must try this winter.
Fresh cranberries are in season and the one recipe that I make every winter, without fail, is this cranberry chutney. My spiced apple and cranberry chutney is inspired from my thakurma’s chatni recipes. My paternal grandmother is a master in making chutney (chatni in Bengali) out of every vegetable/fruit possible. She makes aubergine, tomato, grape, bottle gourd etc chutneys so good that we don’t tire asking her for more. So, when I had to make cranberry chutney for the first time, I just knew whom to go to for the recipe. Moreover, it was her suggestion too, that I also include apples along with cranberries to balance the tartness out. And voila, the fruits spiced with paanch phoron and bhaja moshla along with whole spices turned out totally delicious. So much so that my friends who tasted it also took some home!
This luscious and delicious chutney tastes great with roasts and Indian snacks like samosas, vadas etc. I kid you not. The spicy snacks dipped in this sweet, tangy cranberry chutney makes for an amazing combination. Furthermore, this is lip smacking good when generously slathered on toasts and crackers, as well. Also, the chutney tastes best the next day, the day after it’s made, since all flavors get ample time to mix and make friends. So when making for a dinner party or high tea, you can make your spiced cranberry and apple chutney a day in advance. This stays fresh and yummy up to a week, stored in air tight container in the fridge.
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Garlic and chilli dahi chutney
Aamer chatni (Bengali style raw mango chutney)
Quick and easy
You are going to be able to make this delicious chutney, with a handful of ingredients in less than 30 minutes. It doesn’t take. a lot of time for the apples and the cranberries to cook. As a consequence, you won’t need to spend a lot of time attending to the chutney, when it is cooking. Also, I have kept my cranberry chutney refined sugar free. I have used grated jaggery as sweetener, here. However, you could choose to sweeten it with any sweetener you’d like. Since I have used jaggery, this healthy cranberry chutney is also a vegan recipe. This flavourful spicy cranberry chutney is truly versatile. Besides the pairings I’ve already mentioned, we also love having it with our parathas and pulaos. And this is delicious recipe is loved by kids and adults alike.
Moreover, you could fill cute mason jars with it and pack them as gifts for your friends and family. This chutney makes for a lovely gift, that is truly appreciated. So I hope you are going to love this Bengali chutney recipe and try it out with the season’s best cranberries. And if you do, I’d love to know how you enjoyed it. You can share your food pictures with me over on Instagram. Or you could also share your feedback in the comments below. I’ll be looking forward to hearing from you.
Eat hearty!
Spiced cranberry apple chutney
Equipment
- Sauce pan
Ingredients
- 300 g fresh cranberries
- 200 g apples roughly chopped
- 1 inch cinnamon
- 2 dried red chilis
- 1 star anise
- 1 black cardamom
- 1 tbsp panch phoron*
- 2 tbsp oil
- ½ cup jaggery grated/roughly chopped
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp bhaja moshla**
Instructions
- Heat the oil and add the paanch phoron, star anise, cinnanmon, black cardamom and dried chilis. Once the mustard in the paanch phoron splutters and the spices become fragrant throw in the cranberries and apples
- Stir them in well with the whole spices and add the salt and ½ cup water. Cover and simmer for 10-12 minutes or until the apples and cranberries break down
- Add the jaggery and mix well. Cook uncovered until the jaggery has melted and mixed in well with the fruits. Remove from heat once the fruits and jaggery become one homogenous mixture and is no more watery
- Sprinkle the bhaja moshala and give your spices cranberry and apple chutney a good mix and serve with your favourite snacks, over toasts, along with roasts, on crackers etc. Enjoy!
Notes
- *Paanch phoron is a mix of equal parts cumin seeds, fennel seeds, fenugreek seeds, mustard seeds and nigella seeds. You will need only need a tbsp of this mix for this recipe
- **To make the bhaja moshla for this recipe, dry roast 4-5 dried red chilis and a tbsp cumin seeds, until fragrant. Remove from flame and once it comes to room temperature, grind it to a coarse powder
- You can replace jaggery with sweetener of choice. Also, you can increase or decrease the amount of it as per taste
- g - grams
- tsp - teaspoon
- tbsp - tablespoon
- 1 cup = 250 millilitres
