Karonde ki chutney using cranberries

Does it happen to you, somebody talked about some food and now you want to try your hands on it, well it happens to me quite often. In august one of my friend talked about how she makes chutney using cranberries which taste similar to karonde ki chutney.....So I said o.k let the fresh cranberries season come & I'll bother you then. Now, Almost 5 weeks back in wallmart I saw the guy putting cranberries on the shelf and I had to buy. So here I was with cranberries sitting in my fridge, no clue what to do with them, my MIL makes yummy karonda chutney, but she was on some trip....I tried to contact this friend but couldn't get hold of her...time passed(fast forward) nearly 3 weeks(on the pack it says....stays fresh for up to 4 weeks...so I tested that & it's true....). Fast forward 3 more days, no more waiting I had to do something with those berries, I know what you guys are thinking, Google to the rescue, No thanks, last time I googled for something & I ended up making Bagels. So, finally I went to the kitchen & started with my regular recipe I use for making fruit chutney's but with little twist here & there as these berries are quite sour. So here's the recipe, feel free to adjust the measurements according to your taste buds.

Ingredients :

• 1/2 pound fresh cranberries( that's half bag)
• 2-3 red chillies
• 1 tsp. panch puran (it's a whole spice mix : fenugreek, mustard, kalonji, cumin & fennel)
• salt as per taste
• black pepper as per taste
• paprika 1 tsp.
• 1 Tblsp. freshly grated ginger
• around 1/3 cup sugar(I started with 1/4 cup then tasted it little bit & add more acc. to your taste)
• little oil
• water as needed

Method :

1. Heat heavy bottom pan, heat oil add red chillies & panch puran, when seeds start to splutter add cranberries, mix them.


2. They will leave some water, add salt, pepper, sugar & ginger, mix everything. Cover & cook on med. heat for roughly 15 min. or so.


3. Keep stirring it now & then and if getting too dry add a splash of water


4. Taste a little bit to check the flavours if needed add more sugar.

Note : I kept this chutney of little thick consistency, adjust it acc. to your choice. I kept it in the fridge, tasted good even after a week. Serve it with roti or spread it on the toast. It was really yummy & easy but uses a lot of sugar so I had to come up with something which I can eat without any guilt, just with the spoon & nothing else.Do check out my next post for the other version.