Today I’m rushing around, picking up the turkey from the store and setting up schedules for when to make my favorite stuffing and various other dishes. This is no time for patschkieing around as my mother would say – dilly dallying in plain English. And it’s certainly not the moment to begin experimenting with my traditional versions of cranberry sauce and relish.
But our cousin Michelle unwittingly inspired me to do just that when she told me last night that her favorite Thanksgiving food is cranberry chutney. I have a fabulous mango chutney recipe and had already made a batch, the perfect condiment for leftover turkey sandwiches over the weekend. Still, the thought of cranberry chutney stayed with me as I slept, and I awoke determined to create my own version.
So, without further ado, here is the original mango chutney recipe and below is my cranberry adaptation:
Cranberry Chutney
Ingredients
- 2 sweet apples (I used Macintosh), peeled, cored, and chopped
- ½ cup water
- 1 cup sugar
- 12 ounces (1 package) fresh cranberries
- ½ cup onion, finely chopped
- ¼ cup fresh ginger, peeled and finely chopped
- ½ cup raisins
- ½ cup cider vinegar
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon curry powder (I used ½ teaspoon hot and ½ teaspoon mild)
Equipment
- Cutting board
- Knife
- Spoon (to scrape skin off fresh gingerroot)
- Peeler
- Measuring spoons
- Measuring cup for liquids
- Measuring cup for solids (I used only ½ cup and estimated for ginger)
- Bowl
- Large, heavy pot
- Wooden spoon
Preparation
- Rinse cranberries and pick out any stems. Set aside.
- Put water, sugar, and chopped apple into the pot and bring them to a rolling boil.
- Add the cranberries, mix just so that cranberries are dispersed, and lower the light slightly, boiling the mixture for 5 minutes. As the cranberries heat, you’ll hear them pop. Resist the urge to stir the cooking cranberries until they are done.
- Chop the onion and ginger as finely as possible. If you don’t know how to peel ginger the easy way – with a spoon – check out my video tip.
- Stir the mixture and add the onion, ginger, raisins, and cider vinegar. Continue cooking at a low simmer for 20 minutes, stirring frequently. The mixture will be getting thicker and stirring is required in order to prevent burning.
- Add the nutmeg, cinnamon, salt and curry powder and simmer for another 5 minutes, stirring constantly. I used fresh nutmeg and a cool nutmeg grater my mom gave me. If you don’t have fresh, grated nutmeg from a bottle is fine, as long as it is still fragrant. As the mixture cools, it will thicken even more. If you prefer a completely smooth consistency, you could puree the chutney in a food processor (it is too thick to go into a blender), but I prefer the the condiment chunky. The spice proportions I used yield a kick, but won’t knock you over. If you prefer a hotter chutney, use all hot curry powder or add a dash of cayenne pepper.
Happy Thanksgiving!
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