Recipe world: Pickles

Showing posts with label Pickles. Show all posts

Keeper recipes like Chutney, Thokku, Gojju are our family favourites. A few varieties of these preserves will always be there as part of our lunch and dinner. Not only there are tasty, they come very handy when I feel tired and can't make varieties of fresh curries.
Here is a finger licking Thokku recipe which I learnt during my India trip last year. This Thokku goes well with rice, chapathi or dosa.

Preparation time: 15 minutes

Serves - 20

Difficulty level: Medium

Ingredients:

Mint leaves - 50gm
Dry red chillies - 50 gm
Garlic peeled - 50 gm
Tamarind - 50 gm
Salt - to taste
Jaggery or sugar - 1/2 tsp or to taste
Water - 1/4 cup (if needed)

- For seasoning:

Oil - 5 to 6 tbsp
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp

Method:

Grind together mint leaves, dry red chillies, garlic pods and tamarind into a fine paste. Add a few tablespoons of water if needed.
Heat oil in a thick bottom pan. Add mustard seeds to the hot oil and let it splutter.
Now, add the prepared paste to the seasoning slowly and carefully. Mix it well.
Add salt and jaggery/sugar for taste.
Mix everything well and cook till it becomes a thick paste and there is no water left in it. If minimal water is added, it takes less than 10 minutes to do this.
Keep mixing it regularly to avoid burning.
Once it becomes like a big lump and starts leaving the bottom of the pan, turn off the flame and allow it to cool.
Store in an airtight container.
Mint leaves thokku can be served as pickle or chutney along with rice, dosa or chapathi.
It stays good for 3 - 4 days at room temperature and can be stored in the fridge for a few months.

Tips:

Quantity of tamarind can be adjusted according to your taste.

ಕನ್ನಡದಲ್ಲಿ ಓದಲು ಇಲ್ಲಿ ಕ್ಲಿಕ್ ಮಾಡಿ

Amla or Indian Gooseberry is well known in Ayurveda because of its medicinal values. It is told that eating one Gooseberry daily is good for our health. Gooseberry is commonly used in varieties of pickles, murabba, squash, chyavan prash, chutney, tambli, etc. Gooseberry is good for keeping the hair and skin healthy. For all the stomach related problems, gooseberry is a good remedy.
During our school days, we used to pick fresh gooseberries when its the season and were dipping them in water with added salt and crushed hot chillies. They taste very good and we enjoyed eating them daily.
One of my friends was asking me couple of months back to share the recipe of Gooseberry Pickle. I prepared the pickle and clicked the picks to share, but didn't get time to share! Now, after coming back from my India trip, I am sharing the recipe of Gooseberry Pickle with you all. Do try this pickle when you get gooseberries next time and share your feedback!

Preparation time: 35 - 40 minutes
Difficulty level: Medium
Yield: 400 to 450 gm pickle (approx)

Ingredients:

Indian Gooseberry / Amla - 340 gm (14 - 15 large gooseberries)
Water - 2 cups (1 cup = 180 ml)
Salt - 10 tbsp or as needed
Asafoetida / hing - 1/2 tsp
Jeera / Cumin seeds - 1 1/2 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Mustard seeds - 3 1/2 tsp
Red chilli powder - 6 tbsp (or as needed)
Lemon - 1 large

For tempering: Oil - 5 tbsp, Mustard seeds - 1 tsp, Asafoetida - big pinch

Method:

Take 2 cups of water, add around 4 table spoon of salt to it. Bring it to boil. After its boiled for 4 - 5 minutes, add gooseberries. Cook them for 4 - 5 minutes and switch off the flame. Close the lid and allow to cool.
Dry roast cumin seeds, mustard seeds and asafoetida till aromatic. Add turmeric powder and switch off the flame. Make it a fine powder along with 2 tbsp of salt.
When the gooseberries are cool, cut them and separate the seeds. Don't discard the salt water.
Take the gooseberry pieces in a mixing bowl. Add the pickle masala powder you prepared before. Add red chilli powder as required. Add around 7 tbsp of salt water to adjust the consistency. Also add lime squeeze and mix it nicely. Check and adjust the taste.
Heat oil in a wok. Temper with mustard seeds and asafoetida. Once it cools down, mix it with the pickle.
Enjoy the tasty pickle with rice and curd!

Tips:

If fresh gooseberries are not available, you can you frozen ones! I have used frozen gooseberries here.

ಕನ್ನಡ ಆವೃತ್ತಿ

ಕನ್ನಡದಲ್ಲಿ ಓದಲು ಇಲ್ಲಿ ಕ್ಲಿಕ್ ಮಾಡಿ.

The season of mangoes is coming to end now in India. I was in my native this year throughout the mango season. There are lot of mango trees in our backyard, but this year, we couldn't get any mangoes there! Of course we bought mangoes from the city, but its not at all equal to the home grown ones.
It was during our childhood days we were running to my Grandma's place to enjoy those delicious mangoes. Going to their place was the happiest thing for us during those times! Grand parents are no more now, but my Mom's brothers invite my Mom's family every year to enjoy the mangoes at their place. This year, nobody could visit their place during mango season even after frequent invites by them. Finally, the kind hearted brothers sent a big parcel of both ripened and unripened mangoes to my mom's place! Everybody felt so happy and enjoyed the delicious mangoes up to a week. Even my little one enjoyed eating mangoes :)

When it is the mango season, most common dessert we prepare at home is Mango Seekarane (Rasaayana). Either it can be served as dessert or as side dish with Dosa or Roti. Click here to know more about Mango Seekarane.

Coming to the recipe part, its a sweet and tangy dish which I had recently at my sister's place. It was prepared from raw mango and they call it as 'Mango Sweet Pickle'. Just learned the preparation method from them and tried it at home. Everybody at our home liked this pickle. Hope you will also like it!

Preparation Time: 40 minutes

Difficulty level: Medium

Ingredients:

1 large mango - unripened (preferably Totapuri Mango)
Liquid jaggery - 1 to 1 1/2 cup (adjust according to sweetness)
Salt - 1 tsp or to taste
Green chillies - 2
Water - 1/2 cup

Method:

Peel off the mango and cut it into thin slices of medium size.
Heat water in a vessel. Add the mango slices to the hot water and cook it for a minute or till half done.
To this, add salt, jaggery, slit green chillies and cook till the syrup becomes thick (May be 2 1/2 string consistency). By the time the syrup becomes thick, mango slices will be cooked fully and they will become transparent.
Transfer the prepared sweet pickle to an air tight jar and use it when required. This can be stored up to 2 - 3 weeks.
This pickle goes well with rice like any other pickle.

Tips:

Any unripened mango can be used for this recipe. But Totapuri Mango is the most suited one.
Red chilli powder can be used instead of green chillies for this recipe.
This pickle should be both sweet and tangy in taste. When the pickle is almost done, check and adjust the taste. If the mango does not have a sour taste, few drops of lime squeeze can be added to make the pickle more tasty.

ಕನ್ನಡದಲ್ಲಿ ಓದಲು ಇಲ್ಲಿ ಕ್ಲಿಕ್ ಮಾಡಿ.

Looks like mango season has started now in India. This is the time when varieties of pickles are prepared using raw mango, especially in Malnad region. Kadigayi Pickle is one of the special varieties of pickle prepared using raw mango. For pickles which we want to preserve for long time say, 1 - 2 years, only few varieties of mango can be used. But for this pickle, any variety raw mango which is sour in taste will go well. And this pickle will be good only for 1 - 2 months. If Kadigayi Pickle is there for your lunch, believe me, simple curd rice will also taste like heaven!!

Preparation Time: 30 minutes
Time to set: 4 days

Ingredients:
1 large raw mango
Cloves - 4

Pepper corn - 10

Fenugreek seeds - 1/2 + 1/4 tsp

Mustard seeds - 1 1/2 + 3/4 tsp

Cumin seeds - 1 + 1/4 tsp

Asafoetida - big pinch

Oil - 2 tsp

Red chilli powder - 8 tsp (according to taste)

Salt - 9 + 2 tsp or to taste

For seasoning: Oil 7 - 8 tsp, Fenugreek seeds - 1/2 tsp, Mustard seeds - 2 tsp, Asafoetida - 1/2 tsp, Pinch of turmeric

Method:

Wash the raw mango and rub all the water with a clean towel. Cut it into medium size pieces.
Add 2 tsp of salt and 2 tsp of oil to chopped mango and mix it. Cover it with a lid and allow to sit for 2 hours.

In the meanwhile, prepare the masala powder: Dry roast pepper corn until you hear the crackling sound. Dry roast cloves, fenugreek seeds, cumin seeds, mustard seeds separately. Combine all the dry roasted ingredients. To this, add 1/4 tsp fenugreek seeds, 1/4 tsp cumin seeds, 3/4 tsp mustard seeds without roasting. Add a big pinch of asafoetida and make a fine powder.

Roast red chilli powder and salt separately under low flame for 1 - 2 minutes. Combine them with Masala powder prepared. Check and adjust the taste. Let the masala powder be little-bit salty coz mango pieces will absorb some salt once you prepare the pickle.

Take a clean and dry bottle or container and put one layer of mango pieces. Then add one layer of masala powder, again one more layer of mango pieces, so on..till all the chopped mango is exhausted.

Now, its the time to do the seasoning! Heat oil in a small wok. Add fenugreek seeds, mustard seeds, asafoetida and a pinch of turmeric. Once the mustard seeds start spluttering, switch off the flame and allow to cool. Once it is completely cool, pour the seasoning on the pickle mixture.

Close the lid of the container tightly and leave it for 4 - 5 days before using. Open the container and mix the pickle once every day during this time. After 5 days, pickle is ready for use!

Tips:

Add the seasoning to the pickle after cooling completely. Otherwise, mango pieces will become smooth like cooked ones.
Always use a clean and dry spoon for pickle to increase its shelf life.

ಕನ್ನಡದಲ್ಲಿ ಓದಲು ಇಲ್ಲಿ ಕ್ಲಿಕ್ ಮಾಡಿ.

We both love to have different varieties of pickles, gojju and thokku as a part of our lunch and dinner. More than me, my hubby loves them a lot :) So, surely I will make some time to prepare these tangy and spicy preservatives at home.

There was some raw tamarind sitting in my fridge from couple of days. I remembered my mom making raw tamarind Thokku during this season and thought of preparing the same. I just called her and got the procedure. Thokku came out very well and hubby dear liked it a lot! I had very few tamarind pieces and prepared in small quantity. But it was a big hit and got over within 4 - 5 days. Already he told me to prepare same kind of Thokku when I get the raw tamarind next time! :D

Preparation Time: 40 - 45 minutes

Yield: It will be enough for 2 people for a week

Ingredients:

Raw tamarind 5 - 6

Spicy green chillies - 3 (adjust according to taste)

Fenugreek seeds - 1/2 spoon

Cumin seeds - 1 spoon

Asafoetida - a big pinch

Salt to taste

Method:

Take the raw tamarind and remove the outer skin, seeds and fiber content. Huh, this is really a time consuming process and took me more than half an hour!

Grind the cleaned tamarind pieces along with other ingredients to a fine, thick paste.

If the quantity is more, you can grind them easily without adding water. But mine was little less, hence added 1 spoon of water while grinding.

Preserve this Thokku in a plastic or glass container. It will be good for 2 - 3 months if refrigerated. If not refrigerated, it will last for 15 days if no water is added.

It can be served as pickle also. Just try half a spoon of thokku along with rice. Mix it well and add few drops of coconut oil if you like..it tastes heavenly!!

Tips:

Green chillies can be substituted with dry red chillies also for this Thokku. Adding of small green chillies known as Chooru menasu or Nuchchu menasu will give a very nice taste and flavor to this Thokku.

ಕನ್ನಡದಲ್ಲಿ ಓದಲು ಇಲ್ಲಿ ಕ್ಲಿಕ್ ಮಾಡಿ.

Here is a special pickle from my Aunt's kitchen. Normally, if we prepare the lime pickle, we need to wait for at-least 4 - 5 days to get it set well. Specialty of this pickle is that you can use it instantly!! My Aunt will prepare variety of pickles with seasonally available tangy fruits and vegetables. During my hostel days, always I used to have a stock of pickles prepared by her. This pickle is a good combination with curd rice.

Preparation Time: 40 - 45 minutes

Ingredients:

Medium sized lime 4 - 5

Salt

Red chilli powder 5 - 6 spoons or according to taste

Turmeric - 1/2 spoon

Sugar - 2 spoon

Water - around 2 cups

Spices: Mustard seeds - 2 spoon, Cumin seeds - 1/2 spoon, Cloves - 4, Fenugreek seeds - 1/4 spoon, Asafoetida

For tempering: Oil - 6 spoon, Fenugreek seeds - 1/4 spoon, Mustard seeds - 1/2 spoon, little asafoetida and pinch of turmeric

Procedure:

Remove the seeds from the lemon fruit and cut them into medium size pieces. Sprinkle some salt occasionally on the chopped lime pieces in order to prevent the pickle from getting bitter.

Take around 2 cups of water, add needed amount of salt to prepare the pickle and bring it to boil (Add the salt approximately and can add some more salt later, if needed).

When the salt water reduces to 1 cup or 1 1/4 cup, add the chopped lime pieces, sugar and 1/2 spoon of turmeric. Mix it well and remove it from the flame. Let it get cool down completely. Here, we have added the lime pieces to the hot water to make them get cooked little-bit and make them smooth. This will ease the process of keeping the pickle mixture for a week to get set well. The whole funda behind keeping the pickle for so many days before using them is to make the lime pieces smooth.

In the meanwhile, dry roast all the ingredients under the Spices category except fenugreek seeds. Roast the fenugreek seeds separately until you get nice aroma. Combine all these spices together and prepare a smooth masala powder.

Roast the red chilli powder by adding few drops of oil for 2 - 3 minutes and keep aside.

Once the salt water mixture gets cool down, add the masala powder and red chilli powder. Check the taste and add some more salt or chilli powder, if required. Transfer the pickle mixture into an airtight bottle or container.

Now, you need to complete it with the tempering part! Heat the oil, add fenugreek seeds, mustard seeds, asafoetida and pinch of turmeric. Once it starts spluttering, switch off the flame and allow to cool down completely.

Pour the tempering on the pickle and store the pickle.

You can use the pickle same day also. If you keep it for 2 - 3 days to set right, it will be even more better! Mix the pickle with a spoon nicely before using. Try this pickle with curd rice for sure :)

Tips:

My mom has given me a nice tip on how make the pickle to taste as fresh ones after few days / months of preparation. What you need to do is - make the tempering with 2 - 3 spoons of oil, few fenugreek seeds, asafoetida, mustard seeds and pinch of turmeric. Don't forget to add the tempering to the pickle once it gets cool down.
To retain the freshness, it is always better to take small quantities of pickle (from the pickle you prepared) in a container for daily use. It prevents the remaining huge quantity of pickle getting exposed to the air frequently.

Sending this over to the Condiment Mela - hosted by Srivalli.