Cranberry Chatni

My husand’s company holiday party is in two days – and I promised him that I’d make to a cranberry chatni (chutney) for him to contribute.

It has been so busy this month that I am tempted to take the easy way out, and be done with it:

Pride (and a very easy recipe) prevents me from doing so, though.
Here’s what I used to make cranberry chatni this time:

2 12 oz. bags of fresh cranberries – rinsed, sorted, and lightly dusted with turmeric)
1 cup citrus juice
1 cup water
1 cup brown sugar
1 tsp. ground white pepper
5 Tbsp. mustard seed oil
3 Tbsp. Bengal five-spice blend (panch phoran)

In a small saucepan, gently heat the mustard seed oil. When warmed to the point of smoking, turn off the heat, and add in the panch phoran.

Place the rinsed, sorted, and turmeric-dusted cranberries in a crockpot.
Add in the citrus juice and water.
Add in the brown sugar.
Start the heat on the crockpot, leaving on high for 4 hours.

Stir occasionally; you’ll know that the chatni is nearly done when the berries start deflating to release their juices, and the overall volume in the pot reduces. Once the 4 hours crockpot cycle is complete, allow the contents to cool. The chatni will be liquid in nature.

Now, I can just hear everyone exclaiming, “This is not the time of year to experiment with new ingredients. What’s panch phoran? Where in the world am I going to find any? How exactly do you call this recipe easy?”

Folks, relax! We can discuss where to find panch phoran (or how to make your own mix) another time. You don’t actually need panch phoran, specifically. Or crabnerries, for that matter. I chose to make a cranberry chatni because it’s Christmas; I could just as easily choose to make an apple chatni, or pear.

The beauty of making a chatni is that everyone has their own favorite ingredients, and you can make chatni to suit your own palate and menu.

No two chatnis of mine ever turn out exactly the same way – I’m forever experimenting with using different citrus flavors, different fruit, and different spices. Tomato chatni was the norm in my parents’ families; after moving to northern Missouri, where apples are so abundant, she experiemented by making chatnis of every variety of apple. Each of her apple chatnis, in their own way, tastes magnificent.

If you don’t like the pungent aroma of mustard seed oil, or you don’t keep it in your pantry, try using a less aromatic oil, such as canola.

You’d rather a sweeter sense to the overall dish? Try infusing the oil with mint, instead of panch phoran.

Want a lower glycemic impact? Substitute the brown sugar with agave nectar, to taste. I’d put in at least a cup to start with, for 24 ounces of berries.

My only comment about experimenting is to keep the proportions of ingredients approximately the same as above – you don’t want to add in a cup of spices, for example – or skip the sweetener entirely. Less is more with spices or herbs. You can always re-heat the chatni and add in more – but it’s hard to take away the overpowering flavor when too much has been added to the mixture.

The point of making a chatni is to use what you already have in order to keep leftover fruit from spoiling – chatnis are made in the same spirit as sugarplums and preserves. As an example of using what you have: I didn’t have any oranges, lemons or limes at home, so I used Simply Limeade for this recipe.

There are too many things to become stressed out about at this time of year – this is one recipe should not stress you out. Walk into your office party (or family celebration) with this refreshing, home-made concoction. I wish you a happy and stress-less days leading up to Christmas and the New Year!

Top image by the_napkin

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Lynn Ghose Cabrera Has Written 30 Articles For Us!

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