There is a word in Indian cooking that used to send a chill down my spine every time it was uttered – biryani.

I was never suspicious of the biryani because it’s difficult to cook, but because it’s typically served as a main course. As a little girl, rice had always been a side dish for me – something to go with the daal or to soak up a sauce.

It didn’t matter if the rice was bland because there were other dishes on the table to perk it up. But when I discovered the world of biryani, there was a shift in balance – the rice had become the star of the show and everything it was cooked with had to taste good. If it didn’t, the whole dinner went to pot.

But now I’m a fully-fledged member of the biryani lovers club, I’m here to offer a lesson in how easy preparing it can really be, provided you know the basics.

Spice notes

Spice mixtures for biryanis tend to vary depending on the region in which they’re being prepared and the main ingredients going in. Some essentials include but are not limited to: Cinnamon, cloves, cumin, coriander seeds, black and green cardamom, bay leaves, mace and saffron.

Used sparingly, these spices infuse the rice and vegetables with the most wonderful aromas imaginable. Earthy, rich, spicy and perfumed, a true biryani should release all of these notes as soon as the lid has been lifted and the rush of steam escapes from within.

What I love about the finished dish are the flavours and smells of Southern Asia, the Middle East and Northern Africa all coming together in one harmonious orchestra of edible goodness – it’s a tour of the East in a single bite.

The rice should always be basmati – an aromatic long-grain variety used to prepare almost every Indian rice dish. It’s even used in spiced rice puddings, unlike its western counterpart which favours short grain.

At home, cooking biryani has become somewhat of a ritualistic affair reserved only for special occasions and buttering up certain people. Every component needs to be prepared in advance: The vegetables and rice should be semi-cooked, the spicy sauce made and the nuts toasted.

Sound like a chore? Never forget that if you take your time and give your biryani some love, it will love you back tenfold.

Biri-what-ni?

Thousands of years ago, the Mughals introduced the Indian subcontinent to the science of cooking rice and vegetables (or meat) together. A beautiful Iranian dish quickly became something every Indian dadima (grandmother) excelled at, and every dadaji (grandfather) dreamt of being hand fed by his doting wife each evening.

Today, I’m stepping into dadima’s slippers and in true grandma style, passing my recipe on to you.

Now let’s talk about the one of the biryani’s most noteworthy ingredients, saffron.

Saffron school

-Use saffron sparingly. By weight, it’s the most expensive spice in the world and nobody can argue over prices when each crocus contains three single strands of pure saffron, handpicked by ever-patient and light-fingered saffron collectors.

-Beware of copycats. For years, saffron fakes have been abundant and it isn’t easy to tell whether you’ve been conned out of your pounds when they look so convincing.

-Always buy from a reputable spice dealer or stockist.

-To get the most out of your saffron, place it in a bowl and microwave it on high for 10-15 seconds to lightly toast it and dry it out (be VERY careful and keep a watchful eye on it). Gently rub it through your fingers when you add it to your dish and it will release heaps of extra flavour and colour. Magic.

3 tips for the perfect biryani

– Biryanis are traditionally cooked in clay pots – not only are these hard to come by, they’re also high maintenance. Without having to invest in one of these, I find that you can get similar results by cooking your biryani in a Dutch oven.

– Every biryani should be slow-cooked with a lid on. An old school trick to stop any steam escaping is to seal the lid with a ring of wheat flour dough. This type of cooking is known as dum cooking. Dum simply means ‘warm breath’ to connote the steam inside the pot. Once cooked, the dough seal is broken and the beautiful aromas are released – of course, the bread is eaten along with the biryani.

– Many people cook their biryanis on the stove, but I prefer to bake mine for the simple reason that the bottom of the dish tends not to burn as quickly as it would if it was placed on direct heat. If you prefer to use the stove top method, place your pan inside another, slightly larger pan filled halfway up with water (essentially a bain marie) to promote even cooking.

Controversially, I sauté my potatoes, onions and paneer separately, in a combination of ghee (clarified butter) and sunflower oil for added flavour before adding them to the biryani. I hear you heckling me for my flippant use of ghee but when you’re pouring yogurt and double cream into your sauce, you may as well go the whole hog and make an amazing biryani for a special occasion. I’ve never been one to skimp on the good stuff.

Classic Vegetable Biryani
(Serves 6)

Ingredients (all of these are available in supermarkets)

For the sauce:
400g passata
1 tbsp ground coriander seeds
5 green cardamom pods, seeds removed and ground
2 black cardamom pods, ground (optional)
1 tsp ground cumin seeds
1 ½ tbsp sugar
½-1 tsp red chilli powder
Pinch of ground mace (optional)
4 inch stick cinnamon, broken in half
1 bay leaf
3 cloves
1 tbsp ghee (clarified butter)
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tsp ginger, minced
2 tbsp concentrated tomato puree
1 ¼ tsp salt
100ml double cream
3 tbsp plain yoghurt

For the rest of the biryani:

255g basmati rice
Pinch saffron
1 medium onion, sliced finely
½ aubergine, sliced into half moons
115g baby potatoes, quartered
100g paneer, cubed into 2cm pieces
5 French beans, trimmed and sliced
100g frozen peas
60g cauliflower florets, broken
10 cashews, toasted in a dry pan
2 tbsp flaked almonds, toasted in a dry pan
1 ½ tbsp desiccated coconut, toasted in a dry pan
1 tbsp golden sultanas
1 tbsp dried apricots, chopped into small pieces
2 tsp salt

Ghee and sunflower oil to fry

Method

1. Wash the rice in cold, running water to remove as much starch as possible. Allow to soak in a pan whilst you make the sauce.

2. Whisk together the passata, ground coriander, cardamom, cumin, chilli powder, mace, sugar, and salt. Heat the ghee in a large saucepan and add the cloves, cinnamon, bay leaf tomato puree, ginger and garlic. Sauté for a few moments, and then add the passata mixture. Stir and cover with a lid. Allow to simmer on a very low heat for 40-45 minutes, stirring often.

3. Heat the ghee and sunflower oil to shallow fry the vegetables one by one. Start with the onions, remove from the pan when golden, then in the same oil, shallow fry the aubergines (until 40% cooked), then the potatoes (until 80% cooked), and then paneer until golden all over. Set aside.

4. Boil the rice in plenty of hot water and 2 tsp salt until 60% cooked. Drain and set aside. Note: You could boil the rice in two batches, adding a little bit of food colour to one. This is a little frivolous and totally optional.

5. Place the saffron in a bowl and microwave in 5 second bursts, checking after each one until the saffron becomes lightly toasted and brittle. Add three tablespoons of hot water to the saffron and allow to steep.

6. Combine the dried fruits and nuts. Preheat the oven to 190°C.

7. Remove the sauce from the heat and quickly whisk in the cream and yoghurt. Add in all of the cauliflower, potatoes, peas, French beans and paneer. Mix thoroughly. You’re now ready to layer up your biryani.

8. Rub some ghee into your dish/dishes (I used mini Dutch ovens)

9. Layer in some onions, aubergines, rice, saffron water, fruits and nuts, vegetables in sauce, repeating until all ingredients are used up.

10. Make a dough using 200g flour, 3 tbsp oil and hot water to bind. Roll into a rope and place onto the edge of your dish. Lightly press down the lid. Alternatively, you can place a piece of foil over the rice and cover with a lid.

‘Dum’ cooking

11. Bake the biryani for 30-35 minutes. The aim of the game is for the rice and vegetables finish cooking at the same time.

12. Break the bread seal and remove the lid when you’re ready to serve. For those final touches, garnish with plain yogurt and fresh coriander.

This biryani is best served with cucumber raita and Peshwari Naan.

Cooking biryani is an art which some chefs spend years trying to fine tune. When they get it right, people flock to their restaurants, hotels and homes, travelling from hundreds and thousands of miles away, just to sample a taste. And that’s when you know your biryani is really good.

Do you have a signature biryani recipe? Now I’ve shared mine, I’d love to read your best tips and tricks.

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Like Beyoncé, who transforms into her alter-ego, the confident ‘Sasha Fierce’ on stage, I had to take on a new persona before I embarked upon making my first pastry for the latest Food Network UK recipe challenge using seasonal peaches.

But a three-octave vocal range and bootylicious behind wasn’t going to help me in the kitchen – not today anyway. To make the perfect tart, I would need to become someone whose skills lay in the art of flour and butter, a pastry mastermind. And then it hit me – I needed to become Andy Bates.

The recipe itself is a simple concept. It’s a pepped-up version of the very English Bakewell Tart, using traditional ground almonds in the tart shell, peach jam, an eggless almond sponge mix, fresh peach slices and a cardamom-spiked mascarpone cream to serve. Sounds adventurous but if I, the world’s worst pastry maker, can do it, you shouldn’t have any problems.

Be sure to check out the blog post and recipe and please leave a comment for my viewing pleasure.

I’m going to be focusing on recipe requests in the forthcoming months as I have as pile of requests as tall as myself

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1. Add the chopped peaches to a large pan on a low heat and add the white sugar. Do not add water.

2. Once the peaches start to cook, they will release their own juices. At this point, you can increase the heat.

3. Simmer the peaches on a medium heat for 25 minutes or until thickened.

4. To test if the chutney is done, place a plate in the freezer for 10 minutes, remove and put a tsp full of chutney on it. Allow to rest for 2 minutes and push the mixture back with your finger. If it wrinkles, it’s done.

5. Always add your spices at the end. This keeps them fresh and punchy. Add the remaining ingredients and stir through.

6. Dollop into sterilised jars. Cover the top of the chutney with a very thin film of groundnut oil and a piece of parchment paper and allow to cool to room temperature. Refrigerate.

Watch out for another sweet recipe using peaches later on this week. I’ve been pretending to be a pastry chef this weekend. That’s all I’m going to say.

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The past few days have been spent planning an elaborate baking mission composed of sweet treats to make your heart cry out for a detox – though I’m not yet ready for said detox.

Biryani is a bit like a newborn kitten – except you don’t cook nor eat newborn kittens. It requires heaps of concentration, patience and love.

Each individual component needs to be prepared to just the right level before the ingredients can be assembled in a harmonious fashion, and then gently steamed to create an insanely delicious smelling and tasting dish to fight over at the dinner table.

In the last post we discussed the origins of Mughlai cuisine and what makes it so majestic, and this fruity, nutty aromatic rice is right on point. Juicy apricots and pineapples are layered up with fluffy rice, spicy potatoes, sweet onions, aromatic saffron and kewra water (screwpine extract).

I’m not going to lie to you, you are likely to do a double take when you see the ingredients list. Take courage, my recipe provides you with a straightforward process to follow to create a true masterpiece. In truth, the assembly of biryani is not unlike the process used to make lasagne – it’s all in the preparation, so be prepared.

The following method is very detailed because I want to give you a complete guide full of handy hints and tips to make the perfect biryani for any occasion, and not only this one.

(serves 6, or 8 as part of a large meal)

400g basmati rice
340g baby new potatoes, cut into quarters
320g onions, sliced into thin strips
60g dried apricots, chopped, chopped into 2cm chunks
20g dried pineapple, chopped into 2cm chunks
20g whole almonds
20g whole pistachios
10g unsweetened desiccated coconut or 30g fresh coconut, grated
1 pinch saffron soaked in 4 tbsp hot water
1 tbsp kewra water
250ml hot water + more for boiling the rice and potatoes
4 tbsp oil or ghee
Salt

1 ½ tsp minced ginger
2 tsp minced chillies
1 tsp cinnamon powder
4 whole cloves
1 tsp ground green cardamom seeds (flowery, aromatic flavour)
¼ tsp ground black cardamom seeds (smoky, heady flavour)
¼ tsp whole fennel seeds
¼ tsp pomegranate seed powder (sharp, sour taste – available in most Indian shops)
1/8 tsp ground mace
1 small pinch ground nutmeg
1 tsp salt

Method

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I’m stepping into rhubarb terriory. My motto concerning fruits and veggies unknown has always been: If all ideas fail, just chutney it.

This week’s recipe challenge for Food Network UK:

Create a recipe using a secret seasonal ingredient chosen by the FN UK HQ’s, Chopped style.

My latest recipe for the Food Network UK blog is for Rhubarb and Anise Chutney. It was a ‘Chopped’ style challenge (if you’re an avid Food Network fan, you’ll know all about it. If not, you need to switch on the TV and start watching).

Good old British rhubarb reminds me of the times I spent devouring crumbles made with ‘proper’ Yorkshire rhubarb while growing up. It also brings back the not-so fond memories of the hideous bellyaches I had after polishing off entire ‘quarter’ bags of rhubarb and custard sweets from my pa’s sweet shop.

If you’re a chutney person you really need to bottle up a few jars of this to keep in the fridge. It’s great on toast, in sandwiches with cheese and spread on crackers.

Read my recipe for Rhubarb and Anise Chutney on the Food Network UK blog and remember to leave a comment!

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Happy Thursday, readers. You’re probably wondering why on earth I’m posting on a weekday. No, I don’t have a day off to chillax with a steaming cuppa chai. Sob.

Ingredients

200g milk chocolate, chopped finely
120ml double cream
2-3 tsp framboise liqueur
Raspberries and icing sugar to decorate

For the shortbread

125g butter, room temperature
180g plain flour
1 tsp lemon zest
2 drops of lemon extract (optional)
65g caster sugar, plus more for sprinkling on top of the shortbreads

Method

1. To make the puddings, heat the cream in a saucepan until just before boiling point. Remove from the heat.

2. Add the chopped chocolate and framboise liqueur to the cream. Stir the mixture very gently until all of the chocolate has melted.

3. Pour into small ramekins (they’re very rich!), top with a few raspberries and allow to cool. After around 20 minutes, place the ramekins in the fridge until 30 minutes before you’re ready to serve.

4. To make the shortbreads, preheat the oven to 150°C.

5. Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Mix in the lemon zest and essence.

6. Sift in the flour and roughly combine. Using your hands, bring the mixture together to form a dough. Wrap in clingfilm and refrigerate for 15 minutes.

7. Remove from the fridge, roll out on a floured surface to around 3-5mm in thickness. Cover the disc in cling film and return to the fridge for a further 15 minutes.

8. Using a heart-shaped cookie cutter (or any other cutter you may want to use), cut out your shortbread shapes. Place on a greased and lined baking sheet and, using a fork, prick holes into your shapes. Cut larger holes in the top if you wish to tie them with a pretty ribbon once cooled.

9. Sprinkle with sugar and bake for around 12-14 minutes.

10. Allow to cool for 5-10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Tie with ribbon, if using.

Note: Don’t let your shortbreads brown too much (a little golden tinge around the edges is fine). If you find they’re overbrowning, turn your oven down and bake on the bottom rack for a little while longer.

Dust the puddings with icing sugar immediately before serving.

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Temperatures are dropping, frosty sheens are crystallising everything within reach, and the only way to hold on to your marbles is with Eggless Christmas Cupcakes.

A reader took the time to email me a couple of months ago with a request for eggless Christmas cake. The ever popular fruit cake around Christmastime is imperative, so why should non-egg eaters miss out on the goodies? The festive flavours of mixed fruits, nuts and spices fill the house with the most comforting seasonal aroma whilst these pretty cupcakes bake. Simply irresistible.

I wanted to create a small twist on conventional Christmas cake by making easy to serve cupcakes, but keeping the flavours traditional and reminiscent of the season was also a must. These little bites of Christmas have been iced with marzipan and white icing in the usual fashion. And although they have been loaded with dried fruits, nuts and spices, I’ve purposely kept them light and not too overpowering or dense.

You can decorate your cakes however you like with your favourite Christmassy patterns. I kept mine really simple with a holly pattern (and a random Christmas tree- I forget why) made from white icing coloured with green and red gel food colours (I used Wilton), a shower of icing sugar and edible glitter. You can go as elaborate as you like- just be sure to email me pictures to drool over.

I haven’t used alcohol in my recipe given the majority audience of this blog. However, if you would like to spike your cakes with a little tipple I suggest using 5-10ml of amaretto (e.g. Disaronno) or any other almond liqueur. You could also use brandy or bourbon. Simply make a dozen holes in the top of your cake with a cocktail stick and pour over the liqueur. Allow this to soak in for a couple of hours before icing and eating.

So, instead of serving up a huge and rich Christmas cake this year (while pondering how much will be leftover), why not bake a batch or two of these light and spicy individual Eggless Christmas Cupcakes? You don’t even need to take the time to decorate them; try serving warm with custard for the ideal December dessert.

Eggless Christmas Cupcakes
Makes 18-20

Ingredients

450g self raising flour + 50g plain flour
350g mixed dried fruits (I used a mixture of dates, apricots, prunes, cranberries, raisins, sultanas and cherries)
320g dark brown sugar (such as muscavado)
250ml sparkling water
80g chopped pecans
100g ground almonds
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
3 tsp ground mixed spice (cloves, nutmeg, coriander seed powder)
2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp cornflour
Zest of 1 lemon
Zest of 1 orange
50ml lemon juice
60ml orange juice
2 tsp natural yogurt
1 ½ tsp apple cider vinegar
2 tbsp sunflower oil

To decorate:
250g marzipan
250g white icing (ready to roll)
Golden syrup (or dark corn syrup) to brush on the cakes and stick the decorations on
Red and green food colours
Icing sugar to dust
Edible glitter

Method

1. Mix together the dried fruits (chop up any large pieces) and chopped pecans with 50g plain flour. Set aside.

2. In a large bowl sift together the self raising flour, baking powder, baking soda, mixed spice, cinnamon and cornflour. Sift again then gently fold in the ground almonds, lemon and orange zest.

3. In a separate bowl whisk together the sugar, lemon juice, orange juice, yogurt, apple cider vinegar and oil.

4. Add the wet ingredients to the sifted flour mixture and add the sparkling water. Whisk and then fold in the flour-dusted fruits and nuts. Be careful not to overwork the cake batter.

5. Spoon the mixture into a lined cupcake tray. Bake at 160 degrees C for around 20 minutes or until a skewer poked through the centre comes out clean. Don’t open the oven door for the first 15 minutes of baking.

6. Allow to cool.

7. Brush with warm golden syrup and first stick on thin discs of marzipan (I rolled my marzipan with a rolling pin, dusting with icing sugar, and used a wine glass to cut to size but you could also use a cookie cutter or just freehand it).

8. Brush the marzipan with more golden syrup and repeat for the icing. If you don’t want it to be too sweet, roll the icing thinner.

9. Colour your white icing with your food colours and roll the red into little berry-sized balls and roll the green, then cut into holly shapes. Dust with a flurry of icing sugar and edible glitter.

Since this is the season to eat, drink and be merry, I’ve decided that in the run up to Christmas I will post recipes for my favourite seasonal desserts and drinks- they make the best fire-side companions during the chilly period.

P.S.
I’d love to see which edible gifts you’re sending out to your friends and family this year. Email me at: sanju(underscore)modha(at)hotmail(dot)co(dot)uk and I’ll post your image up in time for Christmas. Also, I’m just gonna put this out there if anyone is interested in sending me an edible gift for Christmas… please? Anyone? No?

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I’m a massive clinger. Ever since the summer sun disappeared behind these pesky autumnal clouds, I’ve been doing everything in my power to cling on to the warm days which were so quickly snatched away from me. Sniff.

Due to my recent bitterness towards not receiving delicious freebies on my doorstep like a certain Mr. P, I enquired about sampling some Greek yogurt from Total. Fage Total are specialists in yogurt making and their product range includes choices for all kinds of yogurt lovers. Their full fat Greek yogurt is exactly the thing I need for making Shrikhand. They even have 0% fat and 2% fat Greek yogurts which are perfect for cooking.

Bring. Them. On.

I’ve been rambling on about Shrikhand for absolutely ages, teasing you with recipes like Eggless Saffron and Lemon Shrikhand Cheesecake and Shrikhand Spice Lamingtons. Evil, no?

In all seriousness, I’ve actually been meaning to do this for a long time and thanks to Total, I finally had the motivation to get it done. I chose to combine my sweetened, spiced yogurt with summer berries because I’m so peeved about the fact that they’ve just gone out of season and I hardly got a chance to use them aside from my Chilled Sunshine Berry Soup. Bah, humbug!

If you haven’t been paying attention to my previous posts and don’t know what Shrikhand is then listen up. Shrikhand is a popular Indian dessert made from hung yogurt which is sweetened with sugar and flecked with spices. It is traditionally served with plain puri (little fried breads) and it can also be blended with short grain rice to make a dessert called ‘phirni’. Double delicious.

You can use any kinds of soft fruit in your Shrikhand; mandarins being my favourite. I learnt to make Shrikhand when I was around ten years old and I remember using half a can to decorate it and the other half to satisfy my belly. Better than biscuits, I suppose.

While I was at it, I tried a couple of variations on traditional Shrikhand which I have been curious about. However, I’m afraid that curiosity killed the cat. My results indicated that pandan Shrikhand is a massive no-no, as is honey Shrikhand (because of the spices). I never said they were some of my best ideas.

You need to use both Greek yogurt and sour, natural yogurt because using just Greek yogurt will leave you with a very bland tasting dish. It’s the mixture of sweet, creamy and sour which makes Shrikhand such a wonderful dessert.

Summer Berry Shrikhand
(serves 8-12)

1kg Total Greek yogurt
1kg plain natural bio live yogurt (or another kind of sour yogurt)
400g icing (confectioners) sugar
250g mixed frozen summer berries
½ tsp cardamom powder
2 tsp crushed pistachios

Method

1. Tip both of the yogurts into a clean muslin cloth and tie it up tightly with a piece of string right above the top of the yogurt so that the water can drip away.

2. Tie the muslin somewhere where it can hang with a large bowl underneath to catch the water and leave it for 24-48 hours. Keep tipping away the water as the bowl fills up.

3. Remove the yogurt from the muslin and place it in a large bowl. Add the sugar and mix well.

4. Press the yogurt and sugar mixture through a fine-holed sieve to remove any lumps. Work those biceps.

5. Mix in the cardamom powder and then gently mix in the frozen summer berries. Garnish with the pistachios. Chill in the fridge until you’re ready to serve.

You can’t really go wrong with summer berries. I wanted to replicate the charming look of cheap and tasty raspberry ripple ice cream where streaks of crimson stain the creamy whiteness of the vanilla ice cream. What I ended up with was a pretty pink Shrikhand with specks of deep purples and reds. Note: If you want the former effect, don’t stir it too much.

I have a couple more recipes to post using Total Greek yogurt so keep your eyes peeled for those. I initially did a step by step for this recipe but there was a whole load of hoo-har with the images and my scatterbrain. In other words, I accidently formatted the memory stick with all of the shrikhand pictures and the beautiful snaps from my cousins wedding. You can come around and slap me if you like.

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Purple is definitely the colour trend of the season over here. As autumn approaches, every clothes shop is bursting at the seams with plums, violets and amethysts. Not only does this make choosing clothes really difficult, but it also fills my mind with thoughts of seasonal produce and autumn flavours. That’s right, I think about food when I shop for clothes. There’s something seriously wrong there.

I felt the urge to jump on the purple preserve bandwagon after Mr. P of Delicious Delicious Delicious made a stunning blackberry jam from a portion of the 5kg of sugar he found on his doorstep one morning (here’s the story). Regardless of the fact that there is a distinct lack of freebies coming my way (gosh, I’m so bitter), P’s jam looked so divine that I had to follow suit.

I think that aniseed adds an extra dimension to both sweet and savoury dishes. It’s deep, liquorice-like flavour provides sweet dishes with a savoury edge, and savoury dishes with a subtle sweetness. Clever little spice.

With this conserve you can be as imaginative as you like. Spread it on toast for breakfast, water it down with lemon juice to use as vinaigrette for warm new potatoes, or even fold some into dark chocolate ganache and chill in espresso cups for a rich chocolate pudding with a bite.

I love opposing flavours, and the spicy anise and red chillies provide that little tingle of heat needed against the sour plums and sweet sugar. This combination will set your mouth on fire. Not literally. Well at least I hope not anyway.

Fiery Plum Conserve
(Makes enough for you to share with the neighbours)

Ingredients

6 cups ripe purple plums, stoned and cut into quarters (that’s 6 cups of quartered plums, not whole)
4 cups granulated sugar
2 hot red chillies, chopped finely
3 star anise
½ tsp salt
2 tsp butter (optional)

Method

1. Place everything except the butter in a large, heavy based pan and heat on a low flame until some juice begins to seep from the plums. Do not add water to it no matter how much you want to.

2. When there is some juice in the pan, increase the heat and boil vigorously until the conserve reaches a lightly set point. To test this, remove the pan from the heat, place a spoonful onto a very cold plate (put one in the freezer for a little while). After a couple of seconds push it with your finger and if the top ever so slightly wrinkles then your conserve is ready. If it is too runny you won’t able to do this and you’ll need to boil it for longer. Keep testing it often. It needs to be slightly runnier than a jam but much thicker than a syrup.

3. Whisk the butter (if using) and dollop into sterilised jars. This keeps for 2-4 weeks in the fridge. If it lasts that long.

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I love fruits with spice. Not just any spice, mind you. Some fruits are made for particular spices, some not so much. It’s a bit like a school playground for the tastebuds. Let’s ponder this a little more; oranges love cloves like apples love cinnamon… and star anise fancies a little apple and orange. It’s a love triangle. Lemon and cardamom have been lifelong chums and are always ready indulge in a spot of tag, but if anyone else tries to join in they get a little uneasy. Oh, and strawberries are fond of black pepper but black pepper doesn’t really enjoy playing with other summer berries.

Do you follow?

Experimenting with fruits and spices is like entering yourself into a lottery where the combinations are extensive, as are the possibilities of amazing as well as not so amazing results. You’ve just got to be prepared to take a gamble. Are you feeling lucky?

I won’t lie; I have a tooth as sweet as a diabetic’s craving for syrup, so I only have one remedy for sour fruits like Greengages.

Sugar.

Please don’t judge me.

Unripened greengages are super sour and hardly edible without being incorporated into some sort of sugar-fuelled dessert. Trust me. They are a part of the plum family and share the same tartness as their purple-hazed cousins, but have an enviable greenness that the Hulk would be proud of.

They are certainly not a traditional Indian ingredient for chutneys, for they are a proud French ingredient… But you know how I love to play with binary opposites. East meets West anyone?

This chutney combines sour greengages, mild onions, sweet sultanas, aromatic fennel, heat-filled black peppercorns and strips of green chilli.

Jackpot.

Fruity Greengage and Fennel Chutney

Ingredients

6 unripened greengages (about a cup), stoned and chopped into chunks
¾ cup onions, chopped finely
¼ cup golden sultanas
2 tbsp butter (or oil)
1/3 cup sugar
1 tsp fennel powder
½ tsp whole black peppercorns
1 hot green chilli, de-seeded and cut into thin strips

Method

1. Melt the butter in a saucepan and sauté the onions until translucent.

2. Add the chopped greengages and combine. Add the sultanas, black peppercorns and sugar and cook until thick and syrupy. Try not to stir too much as this will break up the nice, chunky pieces of greengage and onion. I just swirled the chutney in the pan (carefully) to prevent it from sticking.

3. Add the fennel powder and chilli strips and mix. At this point you could also add an extra tsp of butter to get a nice glossy sheen. You know I did.

4. Pile into a sterilised jar and refrigerate once cool.

Serve with crusty bread, in hearty cheese sandwiches, as a dip for poppadoms and spicy starters or scoop it up with your fingers and pile it into your mouth (probably best to do this when nobody is around). If you can’t get away from people then try using Indian breads (e.g. puris, chapattis, parathas, bhaturas) as shovels for your chutney-craving tongues.

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