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Easy Jewish Charoses Applesauce Recipe


charoses
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2.57 from 23 votes
My version of Charoses was inspired by a recipe from my friend Sharon Eisenberg's friend's grandmother-in-law. Really. Let it age overnight to improve the flavors.

Course:
Appetizer
,
Dinner
,
Salad
,
Side Dish
Cuisine:
American
,
Jewish
difficulty scale

Makes:

Servings: 8

Takes:

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients

  • 1 cup unsalted walnuts
  • ½ cup raisins or craisins
  • ¼ teaspoon powdered ginger
  • ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
  • 2 tablespoons honey
  • cup Concord red wine or Concord grape juice
  • ¼ teaspoon  Morton Coarse Kosher Salt 
  • 3 large apples
Notes:
About the apples. Go for crisp, tart, crunchy apples like Braeburn, Fuji, Gala, Granny Smith, or Sweet Delicious.
About the wine. In the US it is traditional to use sweet Concord wine. If you can't bring yourself to buy sweet Concord wine, I recommend a ruby port or a young grapey Beaujolais with another tablespoon of honey. If you wish, you can even substitute non-alcoholic grape juice. Interestingly, if you tell American Jews that the Concord is native to North America and it is never used in Israel or Europe, they are shocked and will usually not believe you.
About the salt. Remember, kosher salt is about half the concentration of table salt so if you use table salt, use half as much. Click here to read more about salt and how it works.
Optional mix-ins. There are slight differences in the charoses around the world where the locals take advantage of local ingredients. Some recipes use chopped dates, chopped dried apricots, chopped almonds, pine nuts, orange zest, hazelnuts, and lemon juice.
Metric conversion:

These recipes were created in US Customary measurements and the conversion to metric is being done by calculations. They should be accurate, but it is possible there could be an error. If you find one, please let us know in the comments at the bottom of the page

Method

  • Prep. Finely chop the walnuts, then mix them with raisins, ginger, cin, honey, wine, and salt in a bowl.
  • Peel the apple. Cut it into quarters and remove the core and stems. Chop into bits about the size of a pea and mix them in. Taste and add more of anything you wish.
  • Serve. If possible, age for a few hours or overnight. Serve on matzoh or as a side dish.