Anjeer Ki Chutney or Fig Chutney | A Sanjeev Kapoor’s Recipe

My Mum has just arrived from Kolkata today. And if you think that the next few days of our kitchen lives will be spent smelling Mustard Oil and cooking Bengali food – absolutely not. On the contrary, I’ll be looking out for non-Bengali or non-Indian recipes from all my cookbooks. The good thing about this? I’ll probably be handling a lot of cookbooks that otherwise remain stacked on my bookshelves like showpieces! She needs a Chutney everyday after her meal (a Bengali after all) but she wouldn’t like a Bengali Chutney. Don’t get my Mama wrong – she loves Bengali food but she gets tired of cooking and eating it in Kolkata – as she describes it – diner por din/day in and day out. What do I do? Research, obviously! I had heard a lot about the nutritional benefits of Figs and had been wanting to do a bit of study on them. But it was during our stay in the Six Senses Zighy Bay resort that we got initiated to Figs in a royal way. It was only fair that I wrote about a dish that used Figs in a royal way too! And that comes in the form of a rich Chutney, the recipe of which belongs to Masterchef Sanjeev Kapoor. Anjeer Ki Chutney or the Fig Chutney is rich and spicy, creamy and has the unique texture that only Figs can impart. My only regret – I didn’t come across this Chutney before meeting the Masterchef himself. It would have given me some excuse to prolong our chit chat with another serving of this delicious Chutney.

Introduction to Figs in Six Senses Zighy Bay

Most of the Six Senses resorts are located in remote places and they blend into the surroundings. The plants and the trees in the resort compound are also of indigenous origin – Dates (1,066 Female trees and 14 Male trees within resort, precisely!), Figs (430), Lime (90), Sidr (340 in the Zighy Bay area) etc. Six Senses Zighy Bay adopts Ecotourism in a subtly luxurious way. And introduced us to these awesome gift from Mother Nature – Figs!

Different fruits growing in the resort yield organic production throughout the year. The Figs in the resort compound grow from November to May. Figs and Dates go into the making of home made jams (below), desserts, reductions and Spa treatments. We were served a wide array of home-made jams and compotes for breakfast. While some of the combinations are interesting – Apricot and Basil, Tomato and Vanilla, the specialities are of course the Fig jam and Honey made from local Dibba Dates.

Nutritional Benefits of eating Figs

Taking 1 page from the 11 page document – Trees in Six Senses Zighy Bay…

– The rich potassium content of figs helps to maintain the blood pressure of the body
– Figs are rich in dietary fiber, which make them very effective for weight management programmes
– Even the leaves of the fig plant have healing properties! Eating fig leaves helps diabetic patients reduce their amount of insulin intake
– Consuming figs helps to reduce the risk of breast cancer
– Calcium and potassium present in figs prevent bone thinning and help to promote bone density
– Tryptophan, present in figs, induces good sleep and helps get rid of sleeping disorders like insomnia
– Eating figs relieves fatigue and boosts memory power

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Anjeer Ki Chutney/Fig Chutney

Category – Chutneys; Cuisine type – Indian/North Indian

The Chutney is very easy to make and tastes absolutely divine. The fact that the main ingredient that goes into making this dish are Figs, which are full of nutritional benefits, make the dish more appealing.

For the printable recipe →

Cooking Time: 20-25 minutes; Preparation time: 5-10 minutes

Ingredients
Anjeer/Figs – 500gms
Almonds – 15-20 pieces
Oil – 3tbsp
Garlic – 4-5 cloves, chopped
Onions – 2 medium, chopped
Malt Vinegar – 2 tbsp
Red Chilli Powder – 1tsp
Salt  – to taste
Sugar – 4 tbsp
Green Chillies – 3, finely chopped
Green Cardamom – 1 tsp, powdered
White Vinegar – 2 tbsp
Melon Seeds (Magaz)* – 1tbsp

Method of Preparation
– Blanch Anjeer and Almonds
– Peel the Almonds and slice them
– Heat 2 tbsp of Oil in a kadai or Wok, add Garlic and sauté briefly
– Add Onions and sauté
– Add Malt Vinegar, Red Chilli Powder, Salt and 3tbsp of Sugar
– Add 1/4 cup of water and mix well
– Remove from heat and let cool
– Grind together Anjeer, Green Chillies, half of the Almonds, Green Cardamom Powder and the cooked ingredients
– Add 1 tbsp of White Vinegar and water to dilute the paste
– Heat remaining Oil in a Wok but take care not to heat it too much. Add Melon seeds and the remaining sliced Almonds
– Add the ground Chutney and mix well. Adjust the seasoning
– Add the remaining sugar for glaze and White Vinegar for sourness
– Serve when cool
– Garnish with sliced dried Figs and Almond flakes

*{Sanjeev Kapoor talks all about Melon Seeds and you can read it here}

Anjeer Ki Chutney is definitely not the Bengali Chutney. A Bengali Chutney is very different. You end your main meal with a Chutney. And that Chutney is generally sweet, tangy and can be made with every conceivable fruit and even vegetables! For example – Aam/mangoes, Jalpai/Olives, tomatoes, Anarosh/pineapple, Tetul/tamarind, Pépé/papaya and various other type of fruits. Dry fruits like Khejur/dates, Kishmish/raisins may also be added to it the Chutney which is also splashed with Phoron/Mustard seeds cooked slightly in oil or Paanch-Phoron/5 seeds cooked in oil. Papad/Big chips like flakes made up of Potatos or Dried Daal usually accompanies the Chutney {another Chutney in the blog – this time a Bengali Chutney – Kaacha Aamer Chutney or the Green Mango Chutney}. And after the Chutney comes the formal dessert tasting – Mishti!

This Chutney is usually had as an accompaniment to the main meal and has it’s origin in North India and is specially popular in Delhi, introduced to us by our Marwari friends. Incidentally, they have done the honour of introducing us to many Indian dishes beyond the borders of Bengal and also beyond the so called popular dishes of North India and South India that most of us are used to. In fact, these are the same friends who have taught me to make the most calorific Indian desserts of all – the Gulab Jamun Rabri. Now coming back to the Fig Chutney – the credit of introducing us to the  Chutney goes to our friends and the credit of the recipe goes to Masterchef Sanjeev Kapoor. Do I have any credit here? Yes, of course – I saw, I tasted, I clicked and I decided to scream and shout out loud about it – this is chutneylisciously awesome! Which is that recipe belonging to your favourite chef, that you really really like? Do Share.

Unblogging it all… Ishita

Disclaimer: Recipe Courtesy – www.sanjeevkapoor.com. Our stay in Six Senses Zighy Bay adds to our list of the Eco Resorts that we’ve visited so far, trying to travel responsibly, as far as possible. The opinions stated here are my own and are absolutely independent. I hope you enjoy reading the posts with lot of visuals but please do not use any material from this post. You can see more pictures of my travel and food journey here. It does take lot of effort to capture a food experience in text and pictures. While it’s meant for you to enjoy them, I request you not to use them!

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Related Posts:Sense On The Edge @ZighyBay | Slow Life, Sustainable Menu & Fattoush RecipeSix Senses Zighy Bay, Oman | Appealing To More Senses Than Six!