Green Apples & Unripe Plums

[rajsuman]

The green-fingered friend mentioned earlier gave me a load of green apples and slightly unripe plums. I usually make apple pies with the green apples and add them to green chutney as a substitute for raw mango. What do you guys make with it? I've never cooked with plums before (except using ready-made plum sauce ) - any ideas for those?

Thanks,

Suman

[Peppertrail]

I usually make apple pies with the green apples and add them to green chutney as a substitute for raw mango. What do you guys make with it?  Thanks,

Suman

Tart and crunchy green granny smith apples make an excellent substitute for raw mangoes in making this fresh mago (apple) pickle. Core, but do not peel, 2 apples and slice them into small pieces. Sprinkle with salt and a tablespoon of fresh lemon juice per apple, and let it rest for a few minutes while you prepare the spice mix. In a skillet, heat 1/2 cup of oil, preferably sesame oil, and add 1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds. When they start spluttering, add ½ cup cayenne (or less if you prefer a milder pickle), 2 tablespoons of toasted and powdered fenugreek seeds, 1/2 teaspoon asafoetida, and a few curry leaves. Reduce the heat to low, add the salted apple pieces, and mix well. Remove from the stove and let it cool. Store in glass bottles in the refrigerator. It remains fresh for a week.

Ammini

[jackal10]

Slightly unripe plums are great to stew or jam. The don't fall apart as readily as fully ripe ones.

[rajsuman]

Thanks Ammini and Jackal10. A couple of questions: Ammini, do you not cook the apples at all? I presume they'll soften slightly in the residual heat. What texture am I looking for? Jackal10, what do you do with stewed plums (with sugar?)?

Suman

[Peppertrail]

Thanks Ammini and Jackal10. A couple of questions: Ammini, do you not cook the apples at all? I presume they'll soften slightly in the residual heat. What texture am I looking for?

Suman

Suman:

No, I don't cook the apples. They will soften a little bit in the hot oil, but will remain crunchy. Probably that is why the pickle don't stay fresh over a week.

Ammini

[jackal10]

Thanks Ammini and Jackal10. A couple of questions: Ammini, do you not cook the apples at all? I presume they'll soften slightly in the residual heat. What texture am I looking for? Jackal10, what do you do with stewed plums (with sugar?)?

Suman

Stew with sugar, no additional water is needed. How much sugar depends on our taste, and the plums, but maybe a cup to a saucepan of plums.

Eat hot or cold with cream or custard..mmm...plums and custard...

You can add discrete spices - cloves, or mace or nutmeg, but I prefer just the taste of the plums.

You can put the the plums with sugar in apie dish, and cover wwth pastry for a plum pie.

Little Jack Horner

Sat in the corner,

Eating a Christmas pie;

He put in his thumb,

And pulled out a plum,

And said,

What a good boy am I!

The plums in this pie would have been dried plums or prunes. You can preserve the plums by drying them slowly in the sun or in a very low oven.

Richard Whiting the last Abbot of Glastonbury, at the time of dissolution hoping to appease Henry VIII sent his steward Jack Horner to London with a Christmas gift, a pie, hidden in the pie were deeds of twelve manors Hiding objects in pies was a common practice in those days. On his way to the king, Jack popped open the pie and stole the deed to the Manor of Mells, a real plum of an estate. To this day the Horner family resides there. The family disputes this, and says the Manor was properly purchased. Mells Manor is in the village of Mells 15 miles N.E of Glastonbury in Somerset, True or not, Thomas Horner took up residence at the manor shortly after dissolution and one of his descendants was still living there in 1975

[gingerly]

in anticipation of another batch coming your way-

wild plum pickle

3 lbs hard,green sour plums

1/2 lb garlic-ground

1/2 lb fresh ginger-ground

2-3 tbsp red chilli powder or to taste

2 tbsp black or yellow mustard seed-ground

1 qrt white vinegar

3 cups peanut oil

1/2 lb brown sugar

halve the washed ,dried plums but leave the pits in.sun dry on a tray for a day(or whatever the equivalent is in the oven)

grind together the ginger ,garlic,chilli powder and mustard using 1/2 a cup of the vinegar.

heat the oil to boiling in a pan,remove from heat and cool.

add the ground paste to the oil and stir over moderate heatfor 2 minutes.add the fruit,sugar and remaining vinegar.stir to dissolve sugar and cook until the oil rises-about 15 minutes.

cool and bottle.let the pickle mature for a few days before tasting.

i'm not sure if the lack of salt is intentional.

this from nahoums of calcutta via copeland marks.