Spicy Cranberry Sauce

Finally the Thanksgiving weekend is coming closer which I was keenly waiting for. My son’s school is already closed this week and so there is no hurry in the morning. After couple of years, we are in US during this festive season. Generally we visit India around this time but because of my husband’s office work, we cancelled trip this year. So we are planning to celebrate the Thanksgiving Day in our own way. Since my 6 years old son is very keen on following the local traditions which he learns from his friends, I have to prepare something which is cooked on Thanksgiving Day. He has given a list what he needs in Thanksgiving dinner :-)

Honestly speaking, I have been introduced to the term Thanksgiving Day because of its great shopping deals. It was so exciting to go through the newspaper ads in the first year after we came to USA. I can still remember that we stood in a long queue in the early morning of Black Friday and bought a laptop for my father. It’s very hard to resist yourself from these lucrative deals if you are a shop-alcoholic like me.

Anyway Thanks giving day comes upon the last Thursday of November, a national holiday in the USA. It’s a day of giving thanks for the blessing of the harvest and of the preceding year.  Turkey is the main dish of Thanksgiving dinner and that’s why sometimes it’s called Turkey day too. Other than turkey, there are many traditional vegetarian dishes served on this day like smashed potato, wild rice, cranberries in various form, corn bread, followed by some yummy dessert like apple or pumpkin Pie.

Today's recipe is spicy cranberry sauce / cranberry chutney made out of cranberries, goes perfect with Turkey. The recipe is very simple or I should say there is no recipe at all. It’s a kind of mixing and serving but the yummiest! I had this chutney / sauce at one of friend's place and the recipe is borrowed from her. Try this simple recipe and I am sure you would love it.

Recipe of Spicy Cranberry Sauce :

Ingredients :

Cranberry Sauce : 1 can 

Green chilies : few / as per your tolerance (chopped)

Rock Salt : 

Chopped cilantro : a handful

For Roasted Spice Powder ( bhaja Masla ) : 

Whole Cumin : 1 1/2 tbsp

Whole Dry Red Chili : 1 

Method :

1. To make Roasted Spice Powder : Take a pan, add whole cumin seeds and whole red chili. First dry roast them till they are fragrant and then grind into a powder.

2. Take a big bowl, open cranberry can and pour the sauce. 

3. Add the chopped green chilies and rock salt, mix it well. 

4. Then add the chopped cilantro. Again mix and mix. 

5. Let it sit for an hour and finally add the roasted spice powder.

6. Mix again and serve.

It's finger-licking good! 

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Mango Jam / Raw Mango Relish

Mango Mania is still continuing, today I came up with a recipe, that is sweet and sour in taste, simply delicious, rather luscious!! You can eat this with bread at breakfast, or as a snack or dessert. Yes, it’s called Mango Jam. It is so easy to make at home and surprisingly without much effort. Last week I asked my hubby to bring some raw mangoes and I had a plan to make Raw Mango Chutney with the same. But he got some extra mangoes which I didn't need and it ended up with this yummy Mango Jam. 

I was planning to share the recipe of Raw Mango Chutney, but alas! I couldn't save anything to click its pictures. I don't want to blame anybody, I couldn't resist form relishing it. So from yesterday, I was very conscious that before taking any snap, I won’t have a single spoon. When I was in 7th grade in my school, I learnt how to make Mango Jam in our 'Work Education' class. We made this same Jam and but I couldn't remember the actual recipe. But thanks to Google, after reading many recipes, and from the taste that was still in my mind, I gave a try that came out exactly how I wanted.

As such there are not many steps in the cooking method of this recipe. Get the mango pulp from some raw mango and cook with sugar. When it is almost done, add some lemon juice, that's all. I added a pinch of cardamom powder, because I like the combination of mango and cardamom powder. Then I added pinch of dry roasted spice powder for the spicy kick that you may skip. To get some stunning color, I added few strands of saffron. This dish is also known as Mango Murabba (Sweet mango relish/ Sweet mango pickle).

Recipe of Mango Jam : ( for a 6 oz jar )

Ingredients:

Raw Mango - 2 medium sized / approximately 1 lb  
Sugar - 1/2 cup or as per the taste
Lemon juice - 1 tbsp
Cardamom Powder - a pinch
Saffron - few strands
Dry roasted Masala powder - a pinch ( This is optional, for the spicy kick, you may add it)


Method :

1. Wash, peel, grate the mango and set it aside.

2. Add sugar, cardamom powder and saffron to it. Mix it nicely and keep it aside for 10 minutes and so. In this time, the raw mango starts to release water.

3. Dry roast 1 tbsp of cumin seeds and a whole dry red chili till aroma comes up, then grind them into powder. This is called Dry Roasted Masala Powder.

4. Cook the Mango mixture in microwave for 3 to 4 minutes, take it out of microwave and stir it well. Put it back in microwave again for 3 minutes more. Check it in every one minute and give stirs, till you get desired consistency, check the sweetness. You may avoid the microwave method, by cooking it on the stove-top.

5. When it is done, add the lemon juice, mix it nicely and add the dry roasted masala powder combine with the mango. Mango Jam is ready.

6. Allow it to cool down completely, then put it in a jar, you can store the Mango Jam for about a month at room temperature or 3 to 4 months if you keep it in refrigerator.

   

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Aamsotto - Tentul r Chutney ( Chutney made of Mango leather and Tamarind )

Spring is here! Days are longer and brighter. After the chilly winter days, it is slowly becoming warmer. Spring, the season of colors, the best time of the year. Flowers start to bloom. Nature becomes more beautiful in this time. Though the recipe I will share today has no connection with the Spring, still couldn't resist myself from sharing some Spring photographs that I clicked last week.

Okay ! hope I didn't bore you ! Now I'm back to recipe. Will not write much today but give you a tongue-tickling recipe for ''Aam shotto - Tentul r Chatni '' which is made of dried mango leather and tamarind. 

Chatni / Chutney, a pungent relish is made of fruits, spices and herbs. An endless number of Chutneys are there in Indian Cuisine. The word Chutney has come from the Sanskrit word 'chatni' that means licking. The name itself tells you everything about its taste !!

Bengali Chatni is little different in taste from the Chutney in other parts of India. It’s totally tangy and sweet and usually made of  tomatoes, mangoes, pineapple, tamarind, papaya or a combination of fruits and dry-fruits, served in a meal just before the dessert.

Recipe of Aamshotto - Tentul r Chutney :

Ingredients :

1.     Aam Shotto ( Mango leather / Mango papad ) - 1 cup ( If you don't get that, use ripe mango )

2.     Tomato - 3 medium sizes

3.     Tamarind - 2 tbsp soaked in water

4.     Green chilies - 1-2 as per your taste

5.     Panch Phoron ( It is a whole spice blend consists of fengreek seed, nigella seed, cumin seed, fennel seeds and radhuni (celery seeds) in equal part )- 1/2 tsp

6.     Ginger julienne( cut into thin - small stripes ) or grated ginger - 1/4 tsp

7.     Bhaja Masla ( roasted spice powder) - 1/2 tsp

8.     Sugar - 5-6 tbsp ( or as per the taste) mixed in 1/4 cup of water.

9.     Salt -

10.   Oil - 2 tbsp

Method :

For Roasted Spice Powder (bhaja Masla) : Take a 1 tbsp cumin seeds and a whole dry red chili in a pan, dry roast them, until it becomes fragrant. Let it cool down at room temperature then grind them into a fine powder.

1. Chop the tomatoes, aam shotto into small cubes, chop the green chilies.

2. Get the pulp of tamarind which is being soaked in water and discard the other stem or seed parts.

3. Heat oil in a sauce-pan. Add the Panch Phoron, once it splatters and add the chopped green chilies and ginger. After few seconds, add the tomato pieces and keep stirring. Add salt which helps to become soft or cook the tomatoes quickly.

4. Once tomatoes are almost cooked, add the aam shotto pieces and stir it. After few minutes when it becomes soft, add the tamarind pulp and add sugar-water mixture.

5. Keep stirring at medium to high flame and mix them together. Check the seasoning and consistency. Yeah Aam shotto - Tentul r Chutney is ready, turn off the gas and sprinkle some bhaja masla.

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