Spicy Pear Chutney

It is raining fruit here my friends. First it was plums, now it is pears, and next up are our beautiful apples. We can barely keep up with supply even after all the sourdough pizzas, pies, pear butters, and chutneys we’ve made. Perhaps there will be a whole pear series? But for now, lets chutney.

While making this chutney I had a lot of time to think about my intentions for the food. I realized I wanted it spicy to get things moving through the body and that the honey should go in last after the cooking processes, in order to not compromise its healing properties. I have also been reading The Path of Practice: A Woman’s Book of Ayurvedic Healing that my dear friend Jenelle gave me, and I love that it talks about making chutneys, ghees, and other healing preserves during the full moon. This is just another reminder that honoring the cycles makes such good medicine. So in tribute to the full BLUE moon and the abundant summer, here is the recipe to some real good chutney!

 INGREDIENTS

1 ½ pounds of finely chopped pears

1 cup apple cider vinegar

1 cup rasins

1 cup honey

1 cup almonds

3 cloves garlic

1 thumb ginger

1 onion

1 tsp salt

1 tsp cardamom

1 tsp cayenne

1 tsp salt

MATERIALS

large pan

2 large pots

tongs

big stirring spoon

4 pint mason jars

METHOD

Chop up all your pears into small pieces. Then finely shop the ginger and garlic, and then onion into small cubes. Add all the ingredients but the honey and almonds into a large pot. Bring the mixture to a boil and then drop down to a simmer. Stir periodically and cook for 45 minutes.

Pre-heat your oven to 400 degrees. Toast your almonds for 4-6 minutes. Allow the nuts to cool, and then chop into small slivers. Add the chopped almonds to the mix.

If you haven’t done it already, this might be a good time to sterilize your mason jars in a hot water bath. This will keep all the little buggers out that might make canning go bad!

After the time has passed, turn the heat off the pot and mix in your honey. Fill your mason jars with your yummy chutney, and now you can enjoy your pears during any season! I think this mix is good on everything: rice, curry, with some ghee on toast… lets get creative!

Happy Blue Moon! I hope it brings you creativity and lots of magic.

With love,

Summer Ashley