Apple Raisin Chutney
On Sept 12, 2015 a group of enthusiastic Yoga practitioners gathering in the forested amphitheatre at Porpoise Bay provincial park. The sun was glistening through the trees and just 200 feet down the trail there was a mother bear and her cubs feeding on the salmon that had come to spawn.
The gathering was to learn more about Shaka Vansya Ayurved. Elizabeth Innes was the speaker. Yes it was a gorgeous sunny afternoon in the forest. A perfect place to learn more about Prana moving into our body and how to balance body/minds for more vitality and health.
We started with the basic principle of Space/Ether, Solar, and Lunar energies and how they become Vata, Pitta, Kapha in our physical forms. How the doshas of V,P and K shift and change every 4 hours in the circadian cycle of the day. After breaking up into groups and doing a questionnaire to get a glimpse into our body type we then went on to examine what foods and spices are best to balance the doshas.
Not only in Shaka Vansya Ayurved but all the lineages of Ayurved the tastes and aromas and freshness of food is considered of great importance. Looking at the 6 tastes of sweet, sour, salty, bitter, pungent and astringent we then saw that certain tastes were aggravating or pacifying a dosha. Also that each meal should have all 6 tastes or else we might have eaten enough quantities but not feel satisfied. This is when the topic of Chutney's came up. A chutney is a condiment that is added to the side of a plate to add more flavour and interest to the meal. One that most westerner as familiar with is Ketchup. We put a bit on the side of the plate to add flavour. However Ketchup has only 3 tastes - sour, salty and sweet from vinegar, salt and sugar. These are the primary tastes used in western cuisine. What is missing is the bitter, pungent and astringent tastes.
So here comes the Apple Raisin Chutney with a full array of flavours:
This is the basic recipe I use and your can increase the ginger by 20 % to make it a bit more pungent
3 cups apples peeled and diced (spartan or granny smith best, Fiji and Ambrosia would be too sweet)
1 cup raisins and 1/3 cup water
1 teaspoonful of each of the following spices: Turmeric, ginger, cinnamon, black pepper,
and 3 teaspoonfuls of coriander.
Once you have cooked the apples and raisins together until they are soft and falling apart, add the spices and let sit at low heat for 10-15 minutes so that the flavours can blend. Then mush it all together. I use my bullet blender, but do not over process, you want it a bit chunky. If it is too thick you can add a bit of lime juice or a bit of water- only a couple of tablespoonfuls at a time or it will be too runny.
One bit of advice about using spices. I purchase coriander seed and black pepper seed and then grind them before using as this produces a more aromatic product.
If you are comparing this recipe to others on the internet you will find vinegar in many of the recipes. Vinegar can aggravate Pitta and is not recommended. Better to use lime juice. Lime is better than lemon but lemon is fine too.
The gathering was to learn more about Shaka Vansya Ayurved. Elizabeth Innes was the speaker. Yes it was a gorgeous sunny afternoon in the forest. A perfect place to learn more about Prana moving into our body and how to balance body/minds for more vitality and health.
We started with the basic principle of Space/Ether, Solar, and Lunar energies and how they become Vata, Pitta, Kapha in our physical forms. How the doshas of V,P and K shift and change every 4 hours in the circadian cycle of the day. After breaking up into groups and doing a questionnaire to get a glimpse into our body type we then went on to examine what foods and spices are best to balance the doshas.
Not only in Shaka Vansya Ayurved but all the lineages of Ayurved the tastes and aromas and freshness of food is considered of great importance. Looking at the 6 tastes of sweet, sour, salty, bitter, pungent and astringent we then saw that certain tastes were aggravating or pacifying a dosha. Also that each meal should have all 6 tastes or else we might have eaten enough quantities but not feel satisfied. This is when the topic of Chutney's came up. A chutney is a condiment that is added to the side of a plate to add more flavour and interest to the meal. One that most westerner as familiar with is Ketchup. We put a bit on the side of the plate to add flavour. However Ketchup has only 3 tastes - sour, salty and sweet from vinegar, salt and sugar. These are the primary tastes used in western cuisine. What is missing is the bitter, pungent and astringent tastes.
So here comes the Apple Raisin Chutney with a full array of flavours:
This is the basic recipe I use and your can increase the ginger by 20 % to make it a bit more pungent
3 cups apples peeled and diced (spartan or granny smith best, Fiji and Ambrosia would be too sweet)
1 cup raisins and 1/3 cup water
1 teaspoonful of each of the following spices: Turmeric, ginger, cinnamon, black pepper,
and 3 teaspoonfuls of coriander.
Once you have cooked the apples and raisins together until they are soft and falling apart, add the spices and let sit at low heat for 10-15 minutes so that the flavours can blend. Then mush it all together. I use my bullet blender, but do not over process, you want it a bit chunky. If it is too thick you can add a bit of lime juice or a bit of water- only a couple of tablespoonfuls at a time or it will be too runny.
One bit of advice about using spices. I purchase coriander seed and black pepper seed and then grind them before using as this produces a more aromatic product.
If you are comparing this recipe to others on the internet you will find vinegar in many of the recipes. Vinegar can aggravate Pitta and is not recommended. Better to use lime juice. Lime is better than lemon but lemon is fine too.
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