Homemade Apple Sauce

Autumn is here! Woohoo! The is literally one of my favorite times of the year. The air is so crisp, and with the weather getting cooler, I can finally bust out all of my cozy sweaters and scarves. But, more than that, it's vata season. 

​What does that mean per se? Well, for one, the weather will be windier and dryer. This will naturally increase the vata inside of our bodies. You want to combat that by fresh root veggies and heavier foods. No more raw food! Lots of cooked and warm foods are called in. I mean what sounds better? Autumn calls for warm stews and lots and lots of squashes. Yay! 

As far as fruit goes, it's apple and pear season. Cooking these fruits make them super desirable for our bodies in the fall. Poached, baked, stewed, whatever sounds great to you--go for it! 

A few weeks ago, my family and I attended an apple festival about 30 minutes away from our home. It was the perfect time for picking fresh apples off of the trees. We came home with quite a few pounds of freshly picked apples, and I had to figure out what to do with all of it! So, I thought, I could obviously make some kind of apple pie or apple crumble. But, I thought, why not try my hand at some fresh apple sauce? Well, needless to say, it turned out amazing. Try out this awesome recipe, whether you have fresh apples you picked directly off the tree, or you picked up a few pounds from your market. It will be delicious either way! 

Ingredients:

• 10-12 small green apples (or another apple if you so choose!)
• 4 whole cinnamon sticks
• 3 full green cardamom pods 
• 4 tsp freshly ground ginger 
• 4 tbsp real maple syrup
• Water
• 3 tsp ghee
• 5-6 whole cloves

Directions:

1. Peel and chop the apples into small pieces 
2. In a somewhat large pot, place the ghee and let it melt completely
3. Sautee the cloves and cinnamon in the ghee
4. Take the back of a knife, and press down on the cardamom pods, until the little seeds come out. Pop them into the pot 
5. Toss in the apple chunks and make sure you coat all of the apples in the ghee
6. You want to cook the apples just slightly to start softening them up a little
7. Next, you want to take some water and pour just enough to where it will be about1/2 inch under the top of the apples (the apples will release its juices, so you don't want too much water to where it will get really runny)
8. Now, you wait. You want to keep stirring the apples so that it all cooks evenly in the heat 
9. When you are able to start breaking up the apples with a wooden spoon, go ahead and mix in the ginger
10. Wait some more until all of the apples are completely softened
11. At the end, you can either break up the apple with your wooden spoon, or you can take an immersion blender and smooth it out. Leave it as chunky or make it as smooth as you like!
12. Fish out all of the spices before you take a jar and fill the jar. I left the cardamom and cinnamon sticks in the sauce when I jarred it so that the flavor could continue to seep in. 
13. Keep your sauce refrigerated for up to 3-4 weeks and ENJOY!

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All chopped up!

Fresh cardamom popped and ready

These apples were mashed with just the wooden spoon; this is how soft you want them to become

Final Product. YUM