Mixed berry and fruit chutney is a finger-licking condiment to compliment to a meal. During this quarantine time, we all are trying to ration our meals. Somedays I am making a nutritious one-pot meal, somedays simple Macher Jhol with vegetables for lunch and dinner. I am always mindful about my daily meals and day to day cooking. But this is the time we need to be more conscious that nothing in our refrigerator should waste.
As berry season in Australia is coming to an end and farmers are selling their last stock of fresh berries in low price, a few weeks back Biswa bought varieties of berry for snacking and to pack for school lunchbox as brainfood. But, now packing school lunchbox and office lunchbox is a future project! Anyways, I am hopeful that we will get back to our regular life if we all play our role to fight with the unpleasant condition. Now let me tell you what we did with all those berries and fruits!
The first couple of day we enjoyed fresh berries, we baked delicious muffins. Off course I freeze some for baking. And of course, being a Bengali making mixed fruit and berry chutney was in my wishlist too!
What Mixed berry and fruit chutney is made of!
Fruits- I had strawberries, mulberries, kiwi berries, plum, nectarine, grapes. Of course, fill free to use whatever fruit you have, but please don’t use papaya, melons, it may ruin the taste of the chutney.
Sugar and lemon juice- The most accessible preservatives in every kitchen. you can use any variety of sugar you have.
Oil- Another popular medium to preserve food.
Whole and ground spices- Panch phoron (Bengali five-spice mix) and Bhaja masala ( a special ground spice blend often used in Bengali cuisine) to add flavour and enhance the taste.
Different ways to preserve Fruits!
There are many ways we can preserve our fruits.
Freezing- Freezing is the easiest and fastest way to preserve fruits without worrying about expiration. All we need to do is wash the fruits, divide into portions, put in freezer-friendly containers and keep in the freezer for later use.
Chutney- making- I find the next easiest way to preserve fruits is making Chutney. Chutney plays an important role in a traditional Bengali meal. During summer months no one can imagine a Bengali meal without Aam-er Chutney ( Mango chutney). Make a big batch of chutney, in the refrigerator and enjoy throughout the week. Ending a Bengali lunch with chutney is like, giving a little bit comfort to our tastebud and our body too! There are some chutneys Kuler chutney (Jujube chutney) Pineapple chutney, Sweet and sour Mango Chutney, mixed fruit chutney every season has to offer its speciality chutney.
Dehydrating- Dehydrating is another great way to preserve fruits. Sun-drying is the oldest way to dehydrate fruits. But in modern days we can take the help of technology, we can use either oven or Air-frier for dehydrating fruits.
Compote- If you are looking for a simple, easy dessert, then nothing can beat compote on the vanilla ice-cream. Compote is a fruit sauce, made with pieces of fruit and sugar. If you are looking for an easy compote recipe, check here.
Jam -making- I remember my Ma(mom) used to make mango jam and served us on the bread toast or sometimes used to spread on Roti or Paratha ( handmade Indian flatbread). I absolutely cherish all these childhood memories.
I was looking for more ideas on how to preserve fruits and came across this informative post. https://www.quickenloans.com/blog/7-ways-preserve-summer-fruits-veggies-winter
What’s the difference between jam and Fruit Chutney?
The basic difference between Jam and Chutney, both are made of fruit and mixed with sugar, but you need to add whole spice or ground spices in chutney.
Here are some other chutney recipe link for you-
Enjoy the mixed berry and fruit chutney.
Mixed berry and fruit chutney
Ingredients
- 500 gm Mixed berries and fruits - As per your choice. I had strawberries, mulberries, kiwi berries, plum, nectarine, grapes
- ½ cup Sugar - approximately 100gm
- 2 tbs Mustard oil - you can use any unflavoured oil of your choice
- ½ tsp Panch phoron
- ½ tsp Turmeric powder
- 1 tsp Bhaja Moshla
- ½ Lemon juice
Instructions
- Wash all the berries and fruits thoroughly, cut them into pieces if required.
- Heat oil in a heavy-duty cooking pot over medium-high heat. If you are making the chutney with Mustard oil, make sure the temperature of the oil reaches to the smoky point, then reduce the heat to low and add dry red chilli.
- Stir for a couple of seconds, then add panch phoron and continue stirring till the flavour of spice and oil homogenised. It will take another few seconds.
- Next, add all the berries and fruits, sprinkle salt, turmeric powder and increase the heat to medium-high, cover with a lid and cook for two-three minutes, you will see that the fruits are releasing the juice.
- At this point, add in sugar and bring to a boil, stirring often until the sugar dissolves.
- Pour lemon juice, give a final stir and turn off the heat.
- Sprinkle Bhaja Masala and cover and let it completely cool and enjoy!
