Sugar-Free Mango Chutney & Easy Wholemeal Chapati

Hello and merry Monday!

After a certain appointment the other week, I felt really inspired and so I thought I would make some chutney, as I hadn't since...almost two years ago! I went to the shops and got me som mangoes, and home I went cookalooking away, and this is how it turned out, a lovely fruity mix with a bit of a kick to it, but don't worry it's not too spicy.
I swapped the sugar for xylitol, and it worked a treat!

So, what to make when you have a whole lotta chutney? Well, as I am quite the novice when it comes to Indian cooking, I thought I would start with something as simple and tasty as chapati. Four ingredients all in - guess what? It worked! I got six small chapatis out of the recipe I halved, and they were really lovely with just the chutney, but I can imagine some salad would also compliment it!

Oh oh oh, and before I forget - A friend and I had a barbecue in the park last week, and we had some Mexican flavoured burgers that I used the chutney as a relish for, and it was - amazing! The Mexican spices, and beans worked a treat with the slightly spicy and sweet chutney, SO good *smiles*

Sugar Free Mango Chutney
(Makes about 2 small jars + a bit extra for testing!)

1 medium large mango
200ml vinegar
150g xylitol
2-3 cm fresh ginger, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1/2 tsp chilli powder or cayenne
2 tsp salt
1 tsp mustard seeds
50g sultanas or raisins

- In a pot, have the vinegar and xylitol, cook over low heat for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

- In the meantime, prepare the mango, cut off the two sides just a little off the piy in the middle so you have two halved and the full edge with the pit. Now, s'time to make some mango hedgehogs as I like to call them. Use a knife to cut it criss-cross juuust down before you reach the mango-skin. Turn it inside out, et voila! Makes it much easier to scrape the mango off. Chop the garlic and ginger.

- Once the xylitol has dissolved and the mixture has had the chance to dissolve, add the ginger and garlic and stir for about ten minutes. Then, add the mango along with the rest of the ingredients and boil over a low heat for about 25 minutes until the chutney starts to thicken and the mango goes soft.

- Stir occasionally over that period, and if you want, you can mash the mango lightly if you want.

- Now, once the chutney is done, transfer into sterilised jars, and twist the lid on tight, this will allow for the jar to create a vacuum and seal. Stor in a cool place and eat within a few weeks, about 4-5 days once opened, but you might not even last that long! This stuff is delicious!

Have you ever tried to make chutney before?

And now for the super-simple wholemeal chapatis! (Use half white half wholemeal if you want the best of both worlds, but I prefer mines a little grainy).

Mango-hedgehog!

Mini Wholemeal Chapati
(Makes 6, serves two with a main or sides)

120-150g wholemeal flour (start with 120 first!)
100ml water
1/2 tsp salt
A tsp ghee or oil for frying

- Start by mixing the flour and salt in a medium baking bowl. Make a well in the middle and pour in the water. Work with your hand until a dough forms and add a bit of flour if it's sticky. It supposed to juuust be dry enough so it "let's go" of your hand as you're working it.

- Knead the dough on a lightly floured surfare and work it for at least 5 minutes, preferably ten. Cover and place in the fridge for about half an hour.

- Half an hour later, work the dough firmly, and then roll into a sausage. Divide it into six pieces, or four bigger ones if you want to make them slightly bigger. I had to "feed" the dough a little more flour as I went along, and I simply used a glass for rolling the chapatis out, who needs a rolling pin anyway?

- Now, heat oil in a non-stick frying pan on medium heat, once hot - add the first chapati and cook for a couple of minutes until it starts to "blister", press down with a spatula and cook on the other side until golden. Repeat with the remaining chapatis without adding more oil.

Once you've run out of chapatis to fry, guess what? S'all done! I cannot believe it's taken me this long to get around to making. I will most certainly be doing this next time chapatis are required!

From left to right: Dough divided into pieces, chapati rolle out and ready for frying, fried chapati with aforementioned chutney!

What's your favourite things to put on chapatis, or serve them with?

Today I got some good news, but I miiight just save that for tomorrow's post. I hope the new week is treating you well so far and that you have a lovely evening!


Original source:
Hamlyn All Colour Indian Cookbook, No 207 and 186

- Jules

Overnight Oats with Peanut Butter Granola & Chia Berry Jam

So June, who has one of my new favourite blogs, posted up this epic vegan breakfast recipe for vanilla overnight oats with chia jam and granola, and I instantly felt like I was due making a bit of an effort with my breakfast, something....new!
Although this recipe here has THREE parts to it, it will actually only take you up to as much as 20-25 minutes to prepare it all - PLUS you'll have some jam and granola to spare for the coming days, win!

PS. The granola should be a little less...well... toasted than the one I made. I forgot to give it a little bit of a stir mid-way through. It was still delicious though - peanut butter and "jelly" or well..jam, you can't go wrong!

Overnight Oats with Peanut Butter Granola & Chia Berry Jam
(Makes 2 jars of granola, 1 small jar of jam, and overnight oats for one)

A bit of sliced banana and this would look top notch! I decided to keep it simple though. Wait...slicing banana hardly takes any effort. Next time!

For the jam:
1 1/2 cup (frozen) Summer berries
2 tbsp agave syrup
2 tbsp chia seeds

- Simply heat up berries along with the syrup in a small pan on medium heat. Mash, and turn down the heat a little, stirring in the chia seeds for about a minute. Transfer to a jar with a lid, and cool. Place in the fridge once it's room temperature, and leave to set (I left it overnight).

This wil keep in the fridge for at least 2-3 days, but it might not last that long, I had half of it as I was "quality testing" it, ooops.

For the granola:
2 tbsp peanut butter
2 tbsp agave syrup
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups rolled oats
1/2 cup quinoa flakes or dried protein

- Pre-heat the oven to 180°C.

- In a medium-sized pan over low heat, melt the peanut butter along with the syrup. Once done, turn off the heat, stir in the vanilla extract and then pour in the oats and quinoa flakes/protein. Stir well to combine.

- Pour onto a baking tray and place in the middle of the oven and bake for 15 minutes. After ten minutes, give the granola a stir, to prevent it from burning (I left it for 15 minutes straight you see - and it turned slightly charred, dragon-granola I call it...oops!)

- Once done, take out to cool completely before storing in air-tight jars.

For the overnight oats:
1 cup milk of choice (almond, soy, coconut, oatsmilk for vegan)
1/2 cup oats
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp chia seeds
1 tsp (agave) syrup (optional, I don't like my oats too sweet!)

- Mix it all together either in a bowl or jam jar, stir well, cover, leave overnight, and you'll find a precious thing awaiting you in the morning, ready to be topped with all the goodness in the world!

Sliced banana, peanut butter or chopped nuts to serve (also optional)

Composition:
Simply top the overnight oats with granola and jam, and then some extra peanut butter and sliced banana, or chopped nuts if you want!

Ta-Dah!


Original Source:
http://philosophyandcake.blogspot.co.uk/2014/06/vanilla-overnight-oats-with-strawberry.html

- Jules

Smokey BBQ Pizza Sauce

It's Summer in Glasgow town! I am absolutely melting, and the sun is shining - love it! And what better to post today, than a simple recipe for barbecue sauce?

The day this was made was a Friday, sociable times were needed, and when my friend wanted to hang out, - I had to think of something to make that was fast, simple, and delicious! We had had pizza last time and it worked a treat, and then I had been fancying lamb for quite some time.... I remembered the first time I had made barbecue lamb pizza, and glorious pita bread all of a sudden made part of a pita-lightbulb-epiphany-sort-of-moment, that's it!

And so, I thought that I was too tired after a long week at work to make the pita bread myself (I will one day, I promise!), BUT I did want to make soooomething myself, and figured that I would go for a smokey barbecue sauce, purely because I don't usually have that on pizza. It's easily put together with mainly cupboard ingredients you probably already have. Pita pizzas were made, the Hobbit was watched, and plenty of tea was drunk (such a hardcore Friday...I know), and we even came up with some pretty good "alternative" Hobbit tracks, changing some words of 90s chart songs to make it go with the movie... Ahh, good times!

Smokey BBQ Pizza Sauce
(For 1 medium pizza or 4 pita breads)

1 tsp oil
1/4 red onion, finely chopped (use the rest when frying the meat/soy)
1 fat garlic clove, finely chopped
1/2 cup ketchup
2 tbsp tomato purée
1 tbsp syrup, honey or brown sugar
About 1 tbsp white wine vinegar
A good splash Worcestershire Sauce (vegan/vegetarian W-sauce can be found in some health- and wholefood shops)
1/2 tsp Liquid Smoke
1/2 tsp (yellow) mustard seeds (optional)
1 tsp (smoked) paprika
Salt and pepper to taste

- Simply start, by frying the oil in a small sauce pan. Once hot, add the garlic and onion and soften for a few minutes so the fragrances get the chance to come out fully.

- Now, stir in the remaining ingredients and let it bubble for 5-10 minutes. Season to taste, and add a bit of chilli if you want a bit of an extra kick, but I found this to be quite all right the way it was!

- Spread over pita breads, or pizzas before topping with the rest of the ingredients you want. Enjoy!

Recipe by yours truly,

- Jules

Red Onion & Fig Reduction

I saw The Little Bean Kitchen's post on how to make a fancy looking reduction to go with creamy cheeses and salty Italian cured ham, and so I figured I'd give it a go myself!
It tastes deeelicious, almost like a meal in a spoonful on it's own, mmmm!

Red Onion & Fig Reduction
(Makes between 150-200ml, about 550 calories for the jar)

1 tbsp olive oil
2 red onions, cut into rings or halved and sliced
140ml balsamic vinegar
2 tbsp soft brown sugar
1 fig, flesh only, chopped

- Start by heating the oil in a medium sized pan on high heat and tip in the onions. Soften for about 5 minutes, before turning down the heat to a low simmer.

- Tip in the vinegar, brown sugar and fig. Leave to simmer uncovered for about 30-40 minutes until you have a thick almost jam-like consistency. Don't forget to stir every ten minutes or so!

Bread with the reduction, blue cheese topped with ham, in the oven on high heat until the cheese has melted, about 3-5 minutes. This was soooooo good! I didn't even know I liked blue cheese so much!

Transfer the rest to a sterilised jar, and keep refrigerated once opened! I imagine this will keep for a couple of weeks at most.


Original source:
http://littlebeankitchen.wordpress.com/2013/09/30/brie-and-prosciutto-sandwich-with-red-onion-and-fig-reductio/

- Jules

Apple & Cranberry Chutney

I few weeks ago, I tried to make spiced jelly jam for toasts and other such things, but I failed... And ended up with some Wintery syrup and so I couldn't really post it up, now could I? Naaaaah

On Saturday though, close to payday and lacking things to do, I decided to try and make some chutney! I have only ever had chutney once before, at a tearoom in Glasgow called the Butterfly and Pig, and I remembered it to have quite...an interesting flavour. Oatcakes with sweet chutney and tangy cheese was a mix of flavours I wasn't used to. I liked it though, and so I decided that I would make some that I could give away as sort of small tokens of appreciation now when we're getting closer to christmas.

It turned out quite nicely actually, if not even remotely close to the photo on the website I found the recipe on. But hey! Give it a go, and see what you think! I've already had a friend telling me that it's good - surely a step in the right direction?

Apple & Cranberry Chutney
(Makes approximately 5 small jars a 230 g/6 oz, I halved the original recipe)

750 g apples, peeled and diced
220 g onions, chopped
25 g root ginger, finely chopped
1 tsp black peppercorns
250 g sugar
125 ml cider vinegar
250 g dried cranberries (I didn't have enough, but will make sure I do next time for some extra cranberry-ness!)

- Have all the ingredients except from the cranberries, in a large pan. Gently heat it up and stir until the sugar has dissolved. Simmer uncovered for about 50 minutes, stirring occasionally.

- By now, the onion and apple will be tender and fall apart, and the mixture should have thickened and none of the watery juice remains.

- Then, add the cranberries and cook for a further 10 minutes, keep stirring gently.

- Spoon chutney over in jars and seal. In order to do this, pre-heat the oven to about 100-150°C. Quickly rinse the jars with soapy water, and place them without the lids into the oven to dry. Don't worry, you will still have time to do this before the chutney cools down.
Whilst the jars are just about dry, transfer the chutney onto the jars and tighten the lid firmly. When it cools, the heat on the inside will create a vacuum as it's cooling, and the jar will seal itself!

Store the jars in a cool dark place. The chutney can keep for up to 6 months. Once it's opened though, make sure to put it in the fridge and eat within a couple of weeks-a month.

If you're giving them away, why not tie a ribbon around it, with a little card?

Serve with oatcakes and cheese, or on toast. This chutney is even so sweet you can probably serve it on pancakes as well - mmmm!

Original source:
http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/8028/apple-and-cranberry-chutney

- Jules