REAL JAM RECIPES!

 It’s a very easy and tasty chutney recipe – try it!

1 mango, peeled and diced
1 tsp ghee or butter
1 red chili pepper, sliced
1 clove garlic, grated
pinch of salt and sugar
curry, oil and apple vinegar to taste

1. Fry mango flesh for some minutes in a pan with butter. Add chili pepper and garlic.
2. Allow it cool, add salt, sugar curry oil and vinegar and make a smooth puree in a blender.

Chutney is Indian dressing, which is made from fruits or vegetables with spices and vinegar. It should be smooth and tender. Besides, I’ve heard it must draw for a couple of weeks to have richer taste, but it’s not obligatory to my mind.

1 cup dried coconut, grated
1 tsp urad dal
3 chilies
1 tsp yogurt
2 tbsp tamarind paste
1 tbsp oil
salt

1. Heat oil over medium heat. Fry coconut and urad dal until coconut is light golden.
2. Place in blender with spices and grind coarsely.

Pakora is vegetables fried in dough. You can use for pakora almost all the veggies, just cut them in equal pieces so that they are cooked at one time. I usually serve pakora as a single dish, with or without chutney.

1 ½ cup besan
3 onions, sliced
1 large potato, finely sliced
1 tbsp ginger, grated
4 green chilies, sliced
1 tsp chili powder
1 bunch cilantro (coriander), chopped
3 tbsp ghee or butter
pinch of soda and salt
oil

1. Stir 1 tbsp ghee with soda, until mixture bubbles. Combine with besan, ginger, chili powder, salt and ghee and add enough water to get thick dough.
2. Add vegetables and cilantro and mix well. Heat oil in a big saucepan to 180 C.
3. Scoop dough with a spoon (moistening spoon in hot water) and put into a pan. Fry until goldish.
4. Put pakoras on the rack to let grease flow down. Serve up with coconut chutney or tomato dressing.

This is another indian tomato dressing, which contains less components and is more quickly to cook.

2 cups oil or yogurt
1 cup lemon juice
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons sugar
¼ teaspoon asafoetida
2 tomatoes

Combine all ingredients in blender and dress the salad.

As I already said, this cookie is part and parcel of memories from my childhood and seems to the tastiest one in its own way. It’s tender in the center and crispy from outside.

2/3 cup sugar
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
¾ cup butter
2 cups flour
1 medium egg
1 ¾ cup semisweet chocolate chips
¾ tsp backing soda
½ cup pecans, chopped
1 pinch salt

1. Combine sugar, brown sugar, egg and butter in a large bowl. Stir in flour, backing soda, salt and chocolate chips.
2. Heat oven to 190 C. Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls 2 inches apart on unoiled backing sheet. Bake for 10 minutes until light brown.
3. Let cookie stay for 1-2 minutes in the oven, then remove from backing sheet and allow it cool on a rack.

This is the easiest Christmas cookies recipe I’ve ever seen. It has just few ingredients and they all are always on hand. The main thing is to buy backing cups to get cookies star- or fir tree-shaped.

4 ½ ounces sugar
8 ounces butter
¾ pond flour
pinch of salt

For decoration:
2 ounces icing sugar
sugared cherries

1. Stir butter and sugar in a large bowl. Add salt and flour, make dough.
2. Place dough on the table, sprinkled with flour. Knead dough for some minutes, then make a ball and put it into the fridge for 10-15 minutes.
3. Roll out dough 5 mm thick and cut out Christmas figures, for example angels, bells and stars. Put them on a greased backing sheet.
4. Heat oven to 180 C (350 F) and put Christmas cookies inside. Bake for 10-15 minutes. Then turn the heat off but don’t take cookie out – allow it bake for 10 minutes more. After that take figures and place them on a rack to finish cooling.
5. Combine icing sugar with a little water to get a thick paste and trim cookie using pastry bag. You can also use sugared fruits and nuts.
6. Keep cookie in a box or tie up a ribbon to them and hang on Christmas tree.