Something between a relish and a curry, this may be served with most Indian meals.

　　

Ingredients

serves 4

　　2 cups fresh pineapple cut into 1/2-inch cubes

　　2 tablespoons sugar

　　3 tablespoons finely grated coconut (use the frozen kind or use desiccated coconut, page 283)

　　1 cup plain yogurt

　　1 1/4–1 1/2 teaspoons salt

　　1 fresh hot green chili (such as bird’s-eye), finely chopped

　　1 tablespoon olive or canola oil

　　1/2 teaspoon whole brown mustard seeds

　　1/4 teaspoon whole cumin seeds

　　2 hot dried red chilies

　　10 fresh curry leaves or 6 fresh basil leaves

　　2 tablespoons finely sliced shallots or onions cut into fine half rings

　　

Step 1

Put the pineapple, sugar, and 1/2 cup water in a pan and bring to a simmer. Stir and cook over low heat until the liquid evaporates, about 10 minutes. Add the coconut and stir once or twice. Take off the heat and set aside to cool.

　　

Step 2

Put the yogurt in a bowl and beat lightly with a fork or whisk until smooth and creamy. Add the salt, green chili, and cooled pineapple-coconut mix. Stir to mix.

　　

Step 3

Put the oil in a small frying pan and set over medium-high heat. When hot, scatter in the mustard seeds, cumin seeds, and red chilies. As soon as the mustard seeds start to pop, a matter of seconds, add the curry leaves and shallots. Turn heat to medium. Stir and cook until the shallots start to brown. Now pour all the contents of the frying pan into the bowl of pineapple yogurt and stir it in.

　　Excerpted from At Home with Madhur Jaffrey: Simple, Delectable Dishes from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka by Madhur Jaffrey. Copyright © 2010 by Random House. Excerpted by permission of Alfred A. Knopf, a division of Random House LLC. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.Buy the full book from Amazon.