Elevate Your Culinary Experience with Savoury Fruit Recipes

Elevating your cooking experience is about using regular ingredients and taking them to the next level. Where you explore new combinations of foods and discover some unimaginable palate of flavours, that are outstanding. 

Fruits are commonly eaten raw, used to make smoothies, and juices or at the most used in desserts. But have you ever thought about making savoury recipes using fruits? Might sound absurd, but by using the right combinations, you get recipes that tease your taste buds.

Savoury recipes with a kiss of sweetness and tartness from fruits are a culinary upscale. And these recipes are easier than you can imagine! These recipes are classy but are often easy to make! Have a look at the array of savoury fruit recipes curated for you to try! 

Pineapple Sambar

Originating from the South Indian state of Karnataka, this delicious combination of sweet, sour, savoury and slight spice is everything your taste buds need. 

Serves: 4 servings
Total Time: 35 minutes 

Ingredients: 

• 2 tbsp tamarind paste 
• 250 gm pineapple cubed 
• ½ cup jaggery (grated) 
• ½ tsp turmeric 
• Salt to taste 

For the Masala 

• 1 tsp cooking oil
• 2 tsp chana dal 
• 2 tsp Urad Dal 
• 2 tsp Coriander seeds 
• ½ tsp fenugreek seeds 
• 5-7 dry red chillies 
• ½ cup coconut (grated) 
• 8-10 curry leaves
• 2 tsp sesame seeds

For Seasoning 

• 2 tsp Coconut oil 
• 1 tsp Mustard seeds 
• 1 pinch asafoetida 

Method: 

1. If you are using whole tamarind, then soak it in hot water till it softens and gets a paste-like consistency. 
2. To prepare the masala for the pineapple sambar, take a pan, heat it on medium flame and add some oil to it. Once the oil is hot, reduce the flame and add the chana dal and urad dal, wait until it turns slightly pink. Now add the fenugreek seeds, coriander seeds and dry red chillies and roast everything well. Now add a few of the curry leaves and roast for about a minute. 
3.  Now add the grated coconut, and allow that to roast with the spices until the coconut turns light golden brown. Now remove from flame and aloe everything to cool down.
4.  In the same pan, dry roast some sesame seeds and add them to the roasted masalas. 
5. Transfer the contents into a mixing jar and blend to a fine paste. Take care that no hard pieces of the spices remain in the paste. 
6. In another pan, add some oil and heat on medium flame. Once the oil is hot, reduce the flame and add the pineapple pieces to it. Let them cook slightly on all sides for a few minutes. In the same pan, add turmeric and salt and sprinkle some water so that the pineapple is well-cooked and tender. Now add the grated jaggery and tamarind paste and allow everything to cook for a couple of minutes. 
7. Once the tamarind and jaggery thicken slightly in the cooked pineapple, transfer the previously made paste to the same pan. Mix everything well, and add some water to make the mixture easy to handle. Adjust the salt and other seasoning. Now allow the sambar to boil for 5 minutes. 
8. Once the sambar is nicely boiled and everything is well combined, keep it aside and prepare the final tempering. 
9. In a tempering pan, add some oil, after the oil is heated, add some mustard seeds and let it crackle. Now add the asafoetida and curry leaves. 
10. Add the tempering to the sambar and mix well. Serve this delicious pineapple sambar with steaming hot rice and papadam. 

Orange Chicken 

This is a Chinese recipe that gets ready in just a few minutes. The perfect combination of the citrusy zesty flavours of orange combined with some sweet and savoury additions with succulent chicken. It is the perfect appetizer for your next house party. 

Serves: 4
Total Time: 2o minutes 

Ingredients: 

• ¾ cup maida or all-purpose flour
• 1 whole egg 
• 1 tsp garlic powder 
• Salt to taste 
• Pepper as per liking 
• 1/3 cup cold water 
• 500gm boneless chicken (preferably thigh or breast) chopped into cubes 
• 2 tbsp cornflour 
• Cooking oil for frying 

For the Orange Sauce 

• Juice of 2-3 whole oranges 
• Zest of ½ orange 
• 6 tbsp fine sugar 
• ½ cup soy sauce (dark or light any will work) 
• 3-4 cloves of garlic minced 
• 1 tsp rice vinegar 
• 1 tbsp cornflour 
• 2 tsp toasted sesame seeds for garnish 

Method: 

1. Prepare a batter for the chicken, in a large mixing bowl, add the maida along with egg, salt, pepper garlic powder and cold water. Prepare a thick batter by whisking the contents to get a smooth batter. 
2. Heat the oil in a frying pan, and set it to medium heat. Now take the chopped chicken pieces and sprinkle some cornflour over them so that each piece is well coated. 
3. Now dip each piece of chopped chicken in the prepared batter and fry it in the oil at medium heat, until the chicken is cooked and appears golden brown. 
4. Once all the chicken is fried, cover in succulent paper and set aside. 
5. To prepare the orange sauce, take a mixing bowl and add the orange juice, orange zest, fine sugar, soy sauce, rice vinegar and minced garlic. Mix everything well and keep aside. 
6. If you want to add some heat to the sauce, add some chilli flakes optionally. 
7. Now take a wok, and add some oil to it, now transfer the orange sauce ingredients to it on low flame. Prepare a cornflour slurry by adding a few spoons of water to the cornflour. Add this cornflour slurry to the orange sauce so the sauce thickens Slightly. Make sure to add no more than 2-3 tsp of the cornflour slurry, just to thicken the sauce slightly. 
8. Now add the previously prepared chicken pieces to the orange sauce. Toss the pieces so that each piece is well coated with the orange sauce. 
9. Once the pieces are well coated, transfer to a serving dish and sprinkle the toasted sesame seeds on top. Serve hot! 

Herb Roasted Chicken with Apples 

Roasted chicken is fairly common even in Indian style and can sometimes feel boring. Elevate your next roasted chicken recipe with a unique addition of apples and herbs and relish it. Apples and herbs are a great addition to the dish, as they bake very well with chicken and the flavours amalgamate to bring out a divine recipe! 

Serves: 6
Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes

Ingredients: 

• 6 chicken whole leg pieces 
• 1 tbsp olive oil 
• 4 sprigs of fresh rosemary 
• 2 tsp fresh thyme 
• 1 cup thinly sliced apples 
• 1 cup onions chopped 
• Salt to taste 
• 1 tbsp garlic powder 
• Pepper to taste

Method: 

1. Preheat the oven to 300°C while other preparations are on. 
2. Use a heavy iron skillet or a size that can be inserted inside the oven. In the skillet, place the whole leg pieces, and drizzle some olive oil on it. Then season both sides of the chicken leg pieces with salt, pepper, thyme, rosemary and garlic powder. 
3. Then add the onions and mix them around in the chicken and seasoning arrangement. Place the apple slices in all the nooks and corners of the skillet. Avoid the edges, as the heat of the skillet might char the apples. 
4. Now place the skillet inside the preheated oven. Bake for about 1 hour 20 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through and is still succulent. 
5. Once fully cooked, cool for 5-10 minutes and serve! 

Figs and Caramelized Onion Pizza 

Everyone loves pizza! But if you like the slightly classy variants, you cannot miss this one. Undoubtedly, it requires a few fancy ingredients, but you have to make this exquisite pizza at home! 

Serves: 4 servings
Total Time: 40 minutes 

Ingredients: 

• 1 cup pizza dough (add yeast, sugar and water to maida add salt and oil. Knead the dough well and let it rest for 3-4 hours. Then knead it again, and let it rest for 45 minutes. After which remove enough pizza dough for 1 pizza) 
• 2 tbsp softened butter 
• 1 large onion very thinly sliced 
• 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar 
• 1 tbsp olive oil 
• 1 tsp garlic powder 
• 1 cup mozzarella cheese
• 5 fresh figs sliced into chunky slices 
• 1 cup goat’s cheese 
• 1 cup fresh arugula 
• Black pepper to taste 

Method: 

1. The first step is to preheat the oven to 400°C. Also, prepare a baking sheet, by lining it with some butter paper or oven-safe material
2. Using the flat of your palm, flatten the pizza dough using some dry flour, you can even lightly use a rolling pin. Try to keep it even in thickness and the edges can be slightly rolled to get a thicker edge. Place this pizza dough on the baking tray. 
3. In a pan, add the butter and heat it on medium flame. Now add thinly sliced onions and cook them well until they are light and translucent. This will take 3-4 minutes. 
4. Now add the balsamic vinegar and cook the onions some more. Now remove the onions and set them aside. 
5. Brush the rolled-out pizza dough with some olive oil. Sprinkle garlic powder evenly over the dough. 
6. Now sprinkle the mozzarella generously over the pizza. Top it with the caramelized onions, sliced figs, and remaining mozzarella cheese. And finally, crumble some goat cheese on top of it. 
7. Transfer the baking tray with the pizza into the oven. Bake it for 15-20 minutes or until the crust turns golden brown. 
8. Once the pizza seems well baked, remove it from the oven, and add the fresh arugula, and black pepper. Drizzle some olive oil and serve hot.