Grapes Chutney / Drakshi Gojju

I had never thought of the idea of cooking fruits with Indian spices, until I came across this dish which was made out of Green Grapes.  I had tasted this Grapes Chutney when we went to visit hubby’s grandma in Gadag a small town in North Karnataka when we were newly married!  To be frank, till last month I didn’t even bother to remember what we were served there, though we were treated with very tasty and authentic North Karnataka food!  But since starting this blog, I have been trying to recollect all that I have ever eaten and truly impressed me!  As I was doing so, I remembered this dish which I had tasted for the first time and really liked it! 

As soon as I noticed the arrival of grapes this season, I bought some seedless grapes on the weekend to try out this dish!  But, the big question was how I was going to prepare this without any recipe. So, I started preparing this dish blindly without a recipe to follow and was delighted to find the simple yet delicious flavours that our Indian spices can give even when you add them to the fruits!  Here goes my experimental recipe which turned out lip smacking J

Grapes Chutney / Drakshi Gojju

Preperation/Cooking time : 15-20 minutes

Servers 3-4

Ingredients:

Seedless Green Grapes 500 grams

Green Chilies 3-4 slit into two

Onions 1 small

Ginger/Garlic paste 1 tsp

Jeera / Cumin powder – 1 tsp

Pepper powder – ½ tsp

Jaggery – 1 tbsp

Mustered – 1 tsp

Oil – 1 tbsp

Salt to taste

Method:

1.      Wash and chop the grapes into halves, or smaller if the grapes are big in size. If you can find some sour grapes, its better.

2.      In a kadai/pan heat oil, add mustered and let it crackle. Add chopped onions and green chilies and sauté till onions turn transparent.  Add Ginger/garlic paste and sauté. Add chopped grapes and sauté for 1 minute.

3.      Add jeera powder, pepper powder, salt and pounded jaggery and mix well. Cook covered in low flame for 10 minutes or until the grapes become soft. Keep stirring in between to avoid burning the bottom.

4.      Check seasoning and serve with hot rice/ chapatti / rotis.

Note:  You may wish to add very little (1 tsp) jaggary if the grapes are sweet or 1 tbsp  jaggary if the grapes are sour, to keep a balance from keep the dish turning out too sweet! You can replace green chillies with red chilli powder for different variation!

Enjoy Maadi ;)

Leena JD

Points to Ponder:

When you harvest the grapes in your vineyard, do not go over the vines again. Leave what remains for the foreigner (poor), the fatherless and the widow.

                                                                                         Deuteronomy 24:20-24 (NIV Bible)

I am so delighted to know that the Bible enlightens us about almost all subjects if I am not wrong! For example it talks about even the grapes and vineyards.J Moral in this simple verse doesn’t apply only for sharing grapes but everything that we have! J