If that jellied cranberry sauce on the Thanksgiving table is a bit much — all that sugar, all that jiggle — there are alternatives that take all the zesty tartness of that iconic berry and add some fun twists. Take this cranberry chutney recipe from San Francisco chef Heena Patel, whose Besharam restaurant in the Dogpatch district showcases Gujarati cuisine.
Bonus: This chutney is great at any time of year.
Besharam means “shameless,” and Patel finds the term — which is often used to disparage rebellious women in India — powerful and empowering. The restaurant is the pinnacle of her culinary journey, which includes time in La Cocina’s kitchen entrepreneur incubator and in restaurants around the city. Now she’s reimagined the traditional Gujarati dishes she grew up cooking with her mother in India, and transformed them with California ingredients
This chutney is a case in point: It dresses up fresh, seasonal cranberries with lime, cardamom, nutmeg and jaggery, a coarse brown date-palm sugar made in the East Indies. (You can substitute brown sugar for the latter.)
“Adding the cardamom balances the tartness of the cranberries,” Patel says.
This chutney is a utility player — wonderful as a chutney, but also great as a topping. “For the holidays, I recommend using it in place of cranberry sauce, as it’s great with turkey,” she says. “I also like to put it on my cheese boards and pair it with appetizers, like my blue cheese-stuffed parathas — my husband Paresh’s favorite — and pesto naan.”
It works as a marinade, too, for meat and vegetables. “If you use it as a marinade, I recommend blending it till it’s smooth,” Patel says. “I love marinating pumpkin in this fruit chutney and roasting it in the oven.”
Here’s how it’s made, Besharam style.
Besharam’s Cranberry Chutney
Makes about 3 cups
Ingredients
3½ cups fresh cranberries
1½ cups jaggery or brown sugar
4 tablespoons water, or as needed
2 teaspoons freshly ground cardamom
¼ teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
1 cup fresh squeezed lime juice
Grated zest from 3 limes
Directions
In a large pot, combine the cranberries and sugar over medium heat. Cook until berries are soft, the jaggery caramelizes and the mixture is thick. Add 4 to 5 tablespoons of water, if needed, to loosen the mixture.
Add the cardamom, nutmeg and fresh lime juice, stirring to combine. Remove from heat, add lime zest and stir well. Serve hot or cold.
— Courtesy chef Heena Patel, Besharam
