Friday, February 29, 2008

Mango Chutney and Garam Masala - To Feast or not to Feast

This was my dinner, which I enjoyed earlier. It was amazing.. esp the crackers layered with dips. I had a neighbour friend drop by earlier who shared some with me & told me they were "everything you would ever want in a food! ".. and its true. They were delicious. They were Onion & Herb flax crackers with sun-dried Tomato Hemp Pesto, Dill Sunflower spread, a Sun-dried Tomato Sunflower spread with Indian (curry-cumin) spices and Mango Chutney on top.

The mango chutney was so good!! I was making it late last night & realized that I was out of Garam Masala .. so off I was googling about 20 or more recipes for it.. how diverse they are! & I realized that the home-made blends are usually far superior to the are commercial ones as they tend to use more of the expensive spices like cardamom instead of lots of cumin & cheaper ones.

I love mixing spice blends - it's very creative - my brother almost went into business mixing and selling spices. He used to run a restaurant in his inn, creating very unique and delicious ethnic & world cuisine recipes and dishes. I must come by this passion for creating foods naturally. : )

Almost ready to post my chutney and masala recipe but first I have to mention that now, looking at this dinner, I am wondering if its going to be like the 'last supper' ..I am so tempted to start in on the juice feast or even doing a master cleanse, or something.. juicing would be good. I have put a couple pounds on in the last few months.. just a couple.. but I know I would feel so much better - lighter..
But I have so much food here - been experimenting with recipes for the Rawlicious menu.. and cause I love doing it. I made 4 types of raw muffin-type things last night: Banana-Blueberry, Carrot-Raisin, Apple-Cinnamon-Date and Cacao-Goji. What will I do with all these?

& Tomorrow is March 1st - the 1st Annual Global Juice Feast begins!
well, it's 1 minute to 12 . Decision time, what to do?
ok, gotit -I'm going to post my recipes & go to bed & sleep on it.
Thats the best I've got right now - See you tomorrow!

& Best wishes to all the juice feasters!!

Mango Chutney

1 Mango (1 ½ c) – peeled, cored and chopped
¼ c Red Pepper – chopped
¼ c Pineapple - chopped
¼ c Onion – chopped
¼ c Raisins
¼ c Agave
½ T Apple Cider vinegar
½” Ginger – minced
1 Garlic clove – minced
1 T Cilantro leaves - chopped
½ t Garam Masala
¼ t Chili, Mustard powder and Salt
dash of Cayenne to taste

Process all ingredients except mango, red pepper, pineapple and onion, together in a food processor. Add onion and pulse chop until coarsely chopped. Add red pepper and pineapple and repeat, pulse-chopping into mixture. Put chopped mangoes in a bowl and pour processed chutney mixture on top. Stir until well combined and let sit together, stirring occasionally, for at least an hour before serving.

Garam Masala

1T Cardamom
1 T Cinnamon
½ T Cumin
1 t Cloves
½ t Coriander
¼ t Nutmeg
¼ t Black pepper
¼ t Fennel

2 comments:

Keely said...

If you do decide to participate in the juice feast, I SALUTE you!!!

Robin 'Keiko' Gregory said...

Thanks Dhru!
It really, really was... but now, where is that juice?

& Thanks Keely, I am doing it but haven't committed completely yet, just going with the flow on this one. Each day is a new day. Hugs!