Tarty fruit achar (sauce)

grapes and plums with brown sugar in the pot

Today my mom made Biriyani and one of my favorite thing to eat with biriyani or just plain rice is grape achar. I even use it as a substitute for wine. This recipe is so versatile that you don't have to have sour grapes to make it. You can make it almost any soury / tarty fruit. You can use apples, plums, mangoes etc. just not solely citrus fruits. Anyway here's the recipe.

Note: I didn't use a measurement so the entire thing is aproximate. This is what's so great about the recipe, you can tailor made it to your taste.

- 1 1/2 cups of sour grapes or any other fruits cut into smaller pieces, if large.

- 2 table spoon of brown sugar (more or less depending on your taste)

- 1 table spoon of freshly squeezed lemon juice, optional (if the fruits aren't sour enough)

- 1 teaspoon of grated ginger

- 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon. You can use stick

- 1/4 teaspoon of red pepper flakes (I use more, since I like things spicy. I also have it toasted)

- Pinch of salt

All the ingredients tossed in together. Ran out of a ginger, substituted w/cloves (bad idea)

Direction: Toss everything together in a stainless steel pot. Note don't use aluminium because it will ruin your pot. In a low heat let it simmer checking on it occasionally. Most cases you won't need extra water since the fruit will release its juice. When it's done, you will see everything is soft and melted forming a thick sauce in about 20 minutes. Then have it with your rice, dinner roll or whatever you want to use it for.

Simmering in it's juice

Almost done but ran out of patience. Squashed all the fruits

I've tried to use it with ice cream the result wasn't good. So it's safe to assume, this sauce is only suitable for savory dishes not for sweets.

Finished product with Biriyani (couldn't wait for it to thicken)