For the Love of Rhubarb!
I have two rhubarb plants that come back beautifully every year. Their little ruby heads popping up through the soil indicate the beginning of spring to me and never fail to get me excited for the coming season. As summer goes on the rhubarb grows and grows and I feel more and more guilty for not enjoying its bounty in my belly. Some years I will make a rhubarb raspberry jam, which is quite lovely, but the stalks keep coming and my ideas and energy keep running out.
This year, determined to put this beautiful and nutritious plant to its best use, I started playing with different recipes. As someone who eats Khichdi/Kitchari often weekly I thought rhubarb’s sour punch, especially as we turn the corner to Autumn would be a perfect complement to this mainstay dish, especially the next day when I make fritters (form khichdi into patties, coat in chickpea flour and brown in ghee on the stove). The crispy outside of the fritters and the smooth pungent sour of the chutney is exciting to the palate and deeply satisfying. And, we used up all the last of the rhubarb! Win-win.
I taught this recipe at my Vata workshop last weekend and it was a huge hit. One participant said it was now her favorite chutney!
You can catch my reel of making this recipe here: https://www.instagram.com/reel/CiN4oQTDvHD/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link.
Rhubarb Chutney
Ingredients
- 2/3 cup sugar or jaggary
- 1/4 cup ACV with the mother
- 12 small to medium stalks of rhubarb (about a pound)
- 1 finely chopped shallot
- handful of chopped dried cherries
- 1/2 t each: garlic powder, ground ginger, chili powder, allspice
- 1 dried red pepper, crushed
Instructions
- Bring the sugar and vinegar to a boil.
- Add remaining ingredients.
- Cook, stirring occasionally for about 8 minutes, until rhubarb is starting to fall apart.
- Remove from heat and let cool before serving.
- Can store in a pint jar until use.
