Apple thokku/chutney/relish; a spicy, tangy lip-smacking south Indian relish or chutney made with apples! With this gorgeous fruit in full season, this thokku is the perfect spicy way to enjoy fall flavors!
Infused with turmeric and aromatic Indian spices, this mouth-watering apple chutney/thokku with it's sweet, fruity flavor, makes for a lovely condiment to enjoy with bread, dosas, idlis, Indian flat breads etc.
As mentioned in my earlier posts, during my recent visit to a local apple orchard, I came back with a large basket of freshly picked variety of apples like Honeycrisp, Golden Delicious, McIntosh Red and Gala varieties!
We ended up eating many of them while they were fresh, but then the whole family was like “Really? More apple to eat?”!!! So, to keep them happy as well as to use up all those juicy apples while they were still fresh, I ended up making a Fresh Apple Pie Tart, some super delicious Apple Pockets and a gorgeous Upside Down Caramelized Apple Cake!! More to come!
NOW, WHAT IS "THOKKU"?
It is basically a pickle or condiment which is a cooked down version of Indian pickles (which are mostly uncooked vegetables pickled in some oil and spices).
Today I will be sharing a quick relish or thokku as they call it in south India, using apples. Generally, thokkus are made using tomatoes, onions, raw mangoes, coriander leaves/cilantro or sometimes, when you can get it, cranberries!
Pureed or grated vegetables (or whole in the case of cranberries) or fruits are cooked down/sauteed in oil along with some basic spices. Typically, we use turmeric, hing/asafetida powder, red chilli powder/cayenne, curry powder, mustard powder, fenugreek powder etc. The vegetable or fruit is then cooked until almost dry and you can see oil separating.
Sometimes a tangy element like lemon juice or tamarind is added, but totally optional.
APPLE THOKKU:
This dish was just an experiment of mine (which by the way was successful!), so I used only 2 large apples. You need to grate the apples (after peeling and coring them) and then cook in lots of oil along with spices.
Being from the southern part of India, we love the flavor of sambar powder, so I have used that to flavor the thokku along with a bit of garam masala powder!
Of course, you need some hot, red chilli powder/cayenne powder to fire it up and make it spicy hot!
That is it! Cooked in a tempering of mustard and curry leaves, it ends up as a lovely spicy, lip-smacking relish!
SERVING SUGGESTIONS:
Enjoy this spicy relish with rotis, parathas, dosas (rice-lentil crepes), idlis (rice-lentil steamed cakes), as a sandwich sperad or even yummy mixed up with some hot steamed rice and a dollop of ghee!
Enjoy and Happy Cooking!
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE THESE OTHER THOKKUS/CHUTNEYS:
Apple thokku, a spicy, tangy lip-smacking south Indian relish or chutney made with apples and some simple Indian spices! Goes well with dosas, idlis, flat breads or even as a sandwich spread.
Ingredients
- 2 ½ cups grated apples (peeled, cored and grated big)
- ¼ cup oil (any cooking oil or if you like it sesame oil)
- 1 tbsp mustard seeds
- Few curry leaves
- ½ tsp hing/asafetida powder
- 4 methi/fenugreek seeds
- ½ tsp haldi/turmeric powder
- 1 tbsp red chilli powder/cayenne
- 1 tbsp sambar powder (or any curry powder of your choice)
- 1 tbsp garam masala powder
- Salt to taste
Instructions
- Peel, core and grate apples (make large grates); do this just before you start to cook to prevent it from browning.
- Heat oil in a large deep saucepan and add mustard seeds to it. Once they start to splutter and crackle, add curry leaves, methi seeds and hing powder. Let it aromatize the oil for a few seconds.
- Immediately, add grated apples along with salt, chilli powder, sambar powder and garam masala powder.
- Mix well and cook on medium heat, stirring often until the apples are well cooked, all the moisture is gone and the oil starts to separate.
- Remove from heat and let cool.
- Serve with idlis, dosas, chapattis, rotis, parathas, as a spread for bread or even mixed up with some rice and ghee! It goes great as a condiment with curd/yogurt rice too!
- Enjoy!!
Notes
Stays fresh outside for a couple of days. In the refrigerator, it can last for at least 10 days.
You can scale up the recipe to make a larger quantity.
Store in a glass jars and use only dry spoons to serve it up.
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Have fun cooking, eating and sharing!!!!
I tired it today, and it was truly lip smacking.
Thank you Vanitha for sharing this recipe.
Thank you so, so much <3 I am so happy you loved my version of thokku using apples. It is absolutely a lip smacking dish 🙂
I will make it today with apples lying around. I wish I had Granny Smith apples. Spice combo is delicious and different
Please do try; one of our favorites using apples.
How fantastic! I needed an extra apple recipe and this sounds fantastic - do I need to add hing or will it be okay without? Also, do you think it will last longer than 10 days in the fridge? Thanks for sharing at Fiesta Friday.
There is no need to add hing; it is just a spice we love!
Thanks dear <3 Happy to be part of Fiesta Friday!
Looks so yummy. Perfect for this apple season!
Absolutely Sandhya! This and every apple season!