Pic courtesy: Pixabay
Guavas remind me of childhood. There was a guava tree right outside my house. The sight of fruits hanging from the tree was quite a familiar one. The battle was to save the fruit from countless parrots and other birds. Sometimes the birds won and sometimes us! If we won, we enjoyed the spoils by sinking our teeth in the firm, sweet and tangy flesh. If we didn't win often, we could always buy guavas from many vendors.
This chutney is one of those unusual recipes which make you sit up and exclaim 'Never knew it could be used this way!' My Mom used to make this chutney when guavas got overripe and nobody was ready to sink teeth in the gooey flesh.
Recently my husband got small guavas from Walmart, which weren't sweet. The guavas looked like this. For their size, they had quite big, stony seeds.
We grudgingly ate a couple but the rest were lying around. Then I remembered this chutney and instantly called up Mom to get the recipe. Here it goes...
Ingredients:
Guava - 4-5 medium ones. Ripe.
Salt - common and black
Cumin seeds - 1 teaspoon
Green chillies - 1-2
OR
Red chilly powder - half a teaspoon
Lemon juice - half a lemon
Ginger - 2 inches
Jaggery or sugar - 1 tablespoon or according to taste.
Adjust lemon juice, chillies, and sugar....well let's say, almost all ingredients ;) according to your taste.
Way to go:
1. Wash and cut guavas. Put everything in a blender. Add very little water.
2. Blend till it becomes nice, chutney-ish consistency.
3. Sieve the mix through a soup sieve to separate the seeds out. Those seeds are tough. Even my Blendtec couldn't grind them.
We paired the chutney with aloo parathas. You can eat it with pakoras, sandwiches, carrot or cucumber sticks. It can also be used as a salad dressing. The options are as vivid as your imagination:) I licked the chutney one spoon at a time and emptied the whole bowl. It was heavenly! I wonder if I can make a refreshing drink out of it. Will figure it out and will let you know the results. Till then, enjoy the chutney!
