Apricot Jalapeno Chutney
Sweet Chutney served after a full course meal is an integral part of Bengali cuisine. Every single day while I was growing up, we would end end our meal with some kind of sweet chutney which would be polished of the plate with fingers & later the fingers licked off clean. I guess that served as a kind of dessert… the Bongs as everyone knows are famous for their “sweet teeth”.. not just a “tooth”. The chutney would be made of any seasonal ingredient. In summer it would be raw mangoes or pineapples, in fall & winter – the irrestible red tomatoes.
My mom would often make this raw papaya chutney (we had abundance of papayas growing in our garden), and use the “mango ginger“( its a ginger which has the flavor of raw mango – we grew this too), and the distasteful raw papayas would magically taste like raw mango chutney. Often times, the guests in our home got tricked, because my mom would make this “plastic papaya chutney“(It would be transluscent & sticky and probably the name was derived) in peak winter and everyone would wonder where she found raw mangoes to make the delicious chutney. It was a delicacy in winter. I will post that sometimes…
Chutneys bear different strains and traits & are enjoyed in different ways in different parts of the world. Be it be an after meal spoon, or a scoop on the cheese, or as any side… they are pretty versatile in their nature. With the abundance of so many different kinds of fruits & berries here, I make chutney with almost every fruit/berry I can get my hands on.
Apricots are beautiful fruits! They taste delicous fresh, or canned or sundried.. in any form. I have never cooked anything with them before….But,..
here is an Apricot Chutney… I have used Jalapeno & Mint with it to make it a Sweet & Spicy combination with the freshness of the mint. Sending this for AFAM:Apricot hosted at Siri’s Corner,, a brainchild of dear Maheshwari of ‘Beyond the Usual’.
Ingredients:
- 1.5 Cup Dried or Fresh or Canned Apricots (I used dried ones)
- 3 Jalapeno Peppers (More or less as per your Taste)
- 1/2 Cup White Wine (Any Fruity Flavored Wine will do)
- 1/2 Cup Sugar
- 1 Inch Ginger Peeled and Very Finely Sliced
- Zest & Juice of 1 Lime
- 1 Teaspoon Oil ( I used Canola Oil)
- 2 Dry Red Chillies
- 3/4 Cup Water
- 3 tablespoons of finely Chopped Fresh Mint
Note: If you do not want to use wine… just use any light juice.
Preparation:
Roughly chop the Apricots & the Jalapeno peppers. Keep the jalapeno aside.
Add the apricots & the ginger to the wine and let them soak for a couple of hours.
Strain the apricots & ginger and keep the wine aside.
Heat the oil, and add the red dry chillies to the oil. When they change color to brown, add the Jalapeno peppers. Stir fry for a couple of minutes and add the apricots & ginger that you had saved. Toss for another few minutes.
Add the lime juice & zest, sugar, water and wine & boil at medium heat till a corn syrupy consistency is reached.
Discard the red chillies after the chutney is done.
Serve with crackers or bread topped on your favorite cheese.
This is also an excellent side dish with poultry , meat or any thing you grill !
It is great for parties, as it can be prepared a few days before you want to serve. The taste actually matures in a few days time. I served it on Whole Grain Crackers, topped with Pepper Jack Cheese, … & saw it quickly disappear!
And I also licked my fingers clean when I had a scoop of this after my meal:-) Like long time before…
Sending this to 
Culinarty’s Original Recipes.
Enjoy!
Related Posts:
Eggplant Caponata
Roasted Red Pepper Hummus
Sweet & Spicy Fruit Chutney
Very different way of making chutney, looks very delicious. Nice use of dried apricots,good entry for the event.
Thanks:-)!
my god.. this combination is a killer.. sweet and spicy.. lip smacking soma.
Thanks Mahimaa.
nice combination, soma….Apricot & jalapeno..I like this kind of chutney, not only sweet, little spicy,too…nice pics
Thanks Indrani… Me too, Ma always used to put ginger and red chillies in them:-)
Hey Soma…sure use any fruit u like..I however love papayas…n mine were as sweet as moangoes…lol
BTW lovely chutney…hot hot!
Thanks Navita. May be I should give ripe papayas a try. Its been a long time & I am still living with the bias:-)
Looks so good! Soma, sitting here and wishing this world was a little more advanced – then I could just put my hands in and take a lick! Wishful thinking!
I always have wishful thinking, esp. when I am seeing everyone around cooking up yummies 🙂
Me too, I have never used apricot in my cooking. The other day after reading some recipe, I went and got lots of dried apricots. Now they are lying the pantry waiting to be used. I love this idea.
What can I subsitiute for wine, Soma?
Supriya, U could use any light juice, like apple (or kids fruit punch etc), which would not overpower the flavor of apricot. U can skip the juice if u are using fresh or canned. the juice/wine softens the dried apricots a little bit.
I got so much dried apricots too, but most of them are gone with all of us snacking on it.:-)
hi soma superb mouthwatering yaar nice color too and love the combo
Thanks Rekha!
The combination of jalapeno and apricot sounds very interesting.
If I tried this, maybe I would substitute the wine with some grape juice, preferably white grape juice. 🙂
Very good idea:-)
Wow delicious !!
Thanks Mohana:-)
The chutney looks so yummy Soma.. Thanks for sending it over to AFAM!..:D
Cheers
Siri
Thanks Siri
Great chutney Soma! I have just made tomato chaatni .. ar tomar plastic chutneyr golpo pore biyebarir nemontonno khawar kotha mone pore gelo. 🙂
Kotodin biyebarite shaal pataye mangsho ar plastic chaatni khaini. Pagol bhabcho nischoi. 🙂
pagol Bhabini ekdom:-) aaj kal kar biye barite shob catering. amaro oi shaal pata/kola pata te lomba lomba begun bhaja, mansho, mishti pulao ar chutney khete ichey kore:-). ki shundor gondho beroto gorom khabar er!
That picture with the cracker, cheese and this chutney…amazing! Very clever combination of sweet, tart and spicy. My next party is going to feature this : )
These are party delights:-) & easy on the host.
Sounds delightful, love the use of apricots in this chutney 🙂
Thanks Usha!
Apricot chutney looks delicious Soma!!!
My taste buds are tingling with the sight of the chutney. I can feel the taste of spicy jalapeno and sour and sweet apricots. Nice entry.
looking yum yum
Mmm, looks so tasty! Nothing like a nice tangy chuntney!
Wow,lovely.never tried apricots this way.
Great chutney flavors…. I’m imagining the sweet-spicy combination and I’m sure this is wonderful 🙂
a fantatic recipe! I want o have this one. I’ll be making it for sure. Thanks a lot for sharing this wonerful reipe. And a wonderful post too. 🙂
Wonderful recipe. I am thinking of substituting apricots with dates. Do you think it is a wise substitution?
W-O-W now this sounds like something else! My favourite sweet and sour sauce also has some apricots in it so I can see this work out just great 😀
Thanks for sharing it with the Original Recipes Round-Up!
Happy New Year!
hi soma was searching for recipes with apricots since i got a pack a week ago for my lil one who refuses to eat them .this lookks nice thanks will try soon and let you know