Side by side or miles apart, dear friends are always close to the heart.
– Unknown

I only have a handful of friends who are so close to me that they know they can knock on my door anytime.   They are the kind of friends who are happy to be sitting at my kitchen table tasting my food and helping out with the chopping and cleaning if needed.  So when one of them called to say that she was coming round, I thought I would rustle up a quick snack.   I had some bread rolls left over so decided to use those to make bread pakoras.   I made this pineapple and Orange dip to go with the pakoras.  I used up what ever  ingredients I had in the fridge and the results were amazing.   The dip tastes hot, sweet and sour with a hint of ginger and goes perfectly with any dish.  My friend thought that they were perfect with these pakoras.

Ingredients for  1 cup of dip/chutney

• 1 cup canned Pineapple chunks with half of the juice they come in
• Freshly squeezed and strained Juice of 3 Oranges
• 1 tbls sugar
• 1 tbls freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1 or two small chunks of fresh ginger ginger
• 2 Fresh green chilies – sliced
• 1 tsp salt
• ½ tsp chili powder (optional)
• 1 tsp extra virgin olive oil

Method:

1. Transfer the pineapple chunks with it’s juices, chilies, ginger into a saucepan.  Add the fresh orange juice, lemon juice, salt, chili powder and sugar and cook  until the pineapple goes soft. Keep stirring occasionally to ensure that nothing  sticks to bottom of the pan.

2.  If for some reason, the juices look too dry, add some more orange juice or water.  Thankfully, mine cooked within 10-12 minutes and I did not have to add any more liquids.  When cooked  allow the mixture to cool slightly.

3.  Blitz the whole mixture using a  blender.  If you do not like hot food, remove the green chilies before blending the mixture.  Once blended, add a teaspoon of olive oil and stir it in. 

4.  Allow the pineapple and orange dip/chutney  to cool and serve with any pakoras.

Note:  This dip can be made in bulk and stored in  sterilised bottles.

Do you have any quick and easy recipes you rustle up when your friends pop round?

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