Edibles rarely go to waste in my mother’s house. She’ll sauté stem greens with fenugreek and chilies, cook fish heads in broth, fry giblets for gajak, and any leftover repast not fit for more human consumption goes to the cats. Lemon and lime rinds are never thrown in the bin, my mum swipes them to place into a suspect jar kept in a cupboard beneath the sink where they are left to slowly ferment in vinegar, before my mum cooks the skins in her own made curry paste, then jars the lot and tops the citrus with a generous amount of oil. The result is a flavor that is distinctly Mauritian with a heady and flavorful dose of umami. My Western ex would jokingly refer to the mix as a jar of botulism. Luckily my mum doesn’t know what botulism means, and no Mauritian fridge is without a jar of “achard” or “zasar” (pickle). I haven’t attempted to make an achard yet but when recently faced with two large bags of apples I decided to try and make a less daunting Mauritian condiment called kutcha – a sort of spicy chutney. A lovely Facebook friend just informed me that kutcha means “raw” in Hindi, which makes sense because you want the fruit to have a crisp bite. Mauritians usually make kutcha from green mangoes but tart apples work just as well. Here is ma’s recipe. It lends itself well to a simple meal of dhal and rice. As my dad used to say: “a nous manzer” (let us eat). No risk of botulism involved.
Ingredients:
2 tbsp of mustard powder
1 tbsp of turmeric powder
1 tbsp of fenugreek powder
1-2 tsp of chili powder
2-3 cloves of crushed garlic
8 tbsp of vegetable oil
2 tbsp of sugar
Salt
2 large tart apples
1 lemon
Grate the apples. Using your hands squeeze all the juice out, douse grated apple in lemon juice and save the juice. Make a paste with a little of the saved apple juice, mustard powder, turmeric, fenugreek, chili and garlic, season with salt. Heat oil in a pan, add the paste and let cook on a low heat for about 3 minutes, add a little more apple juice if the mixture starts to burn. Add grated apples and sugar, continue cooking and stirring for 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat. Let cool. Store the kutcha in a glass jar, top with oil.
