Indian Infusion Granola

I hope you all had a chance to grab a copy of Blog Aid while it was still available.

What's Blog Aid? In the wake of the Haiti earthquake, Calgarian food writer/author/blogger/broadcaster/editor and overall superwoman Julie van Rosendaal decided to raise funds for the relief efforts by compiling a cookbook with recipes from 27 of her favourite food bloggers. The time from idea conception to print was only 3 weeks, and in the end, 1,818 cookbooks were shipped out, amounting to almost $50,000 (including matched funds from the Canadian government) going towards Haiti relief via the Canadian Red Cross and Doctors without Borders.

At around the same time, my coworkers' granola supply from the holidays were beginning to dwindle and they began bugging me for more. But as [I like to pretend] it's not winter any more, I thought a new blend of spices and ingredients would be more appropriate.

Cheryl of Backseat Gourmet had mentioned that she'd submitted a Chai Spice Granola recipe to Blog Aid, so I eagerly waited for my copy to see what it was all about. When I compared her recipe with mine, I liked her blend of spices and the pistachios, but the dietitian in me thought, "Well, her recipe has ½ cup of oil and mine only has 2 tbsp... and her recipe uses ½ cup each honey and brown sugar and mine just has the honey..." And I had to cut out the coconut because I have a coworker who doesn't like it.

So I took a little from her recipe and a lot from my recipe, and Indian Infusion Granola was born.


Although I used the word "Indian" because of the chai spice blend, it occurred to me later that pistachios and apricots feature more prominently in Turkish cuisine...





...perhaps Indian Confusion Granola is more like it.

But Indian or Turkish, this recipe is good though the spice was a little overwhelmed by the dried apricots, I think. Despite the fact that I moved the oven racks a little too low and burnt a good portion of it, I got a lot of positive feedback and I'm already ready to make more! A last-minute order meant that I only got about ¼ cup of the recipe (which I'd already multiplied by 1.25!)

Indian In/Confusion Granola
Adapted from Backseat Gourmet/Blog Aid and my own Winter Spice Granola
Makes about 12 cups

• 5 cups (1.25 L) rolled oats
  
• 1 cup (250 mL) almonds, raw
  
• 1 cup (250 mL) pistachios*, shelled, raw
  
• 1 cup (250 mL) pumpkin seeds, hulled, raw
  
• 1 cup (250 mL) sunflower seeds, hulled, raw
  
• ¾ cup (185 mL) sesame seeds
  
• 2 tsp (10 mL) ground cinnamon
  
• ½ tsp (5 mL) ground ginger
  
• ½ tsp (5 mL) cardamom
  
• ½ tsp (2 mL) nutmeg
  
• ½ tsp (2 mL) cloves
  
• ¾ cup (185 mL) unsweetened applesauce
  
• ½ cup (125 mL) honey
  
• 2 tbsp (30 mL) vegetable oil
  
• 1 cup (250 mL) dried apricots, chopped
  
• 1 cup (250 mL) golden raisins

1. Set racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven. Preheat to 300°F (150°C).
   
2. In a large bowl, combine all of the dry ingredients. Stir to mix well. In a small bowl, combine all of the wet ingredients. Stir to mix well. Pour the wet ingredients over the dry ones, and stir well.
   
3. Spread the mixture evenly on two rimmed baking sheets. Place granola in oven and set a timer to go off every ten minutes while the granola bakes, so you can rotate the pans and give the granola a good stir. After stirring the granola, make sure you spread the granola back evenly in pan to prevent burning. Remove granola from oven after 3-4 rotations (30-40 minutes) and stir well to keep it from cooling in a hard, solid sheet.
   
4. Scoop cooled granola into a large zipper-lock plastic bag or other airtight container. Mix in dried fruit and store in refrigerator indefinitely.

*Thanks, Cheryl, for telling me that I can find raw, shelled pistachios at Calgary Farmers Market

Nutrition Info (per ½ cup): 351 calories, 16 g fat (2 g saturated), 0 mg cholesterol, 42 g carbohydrate (7 g fibre, 14 g sugar), 12 g protein, 6 mg sodium. An excellent source of thiamin (vitamin B₁), iron, magnesium, phosphorus, zinc, copper and manganese. A good source of vitamin B₆, folate (vitamin B₄), potassium and selenium.