Lemon Pickle : First Attempt

Give me pickle any day, any time (spicy one!)... just love it! But natural that one of my major attempts in my kitchen is to make home made pickle. No more pickle from the market for very many obvious reasons.

Pickle is such a flexi stuff that you can end up making one from most of the vegetable / non-veg : most favored one is Lemon. Pickle varieties can also be based on type of preparation : Dried, Juicy, Instant, etc...

As a first attempt, I made a juicy spicy lemon pickle. Easy to make and maintain as well, as compared to something like 'vadu manga' or 'avakai' (mango based pickles)

Ingredients:

Lemon                   - I tried this batch with 10 lemons
Green Chilies        - (Optional) - Approx 10 cut into small pieces
Red Chile powder or Pickle Powder - Use Qty as spicy as you need. Roughly 10 red chilies dried and powdered
Turmeric Powder   - 1 tsp
Salt                         - To taste
Hing                        - 1/2 tsp
Sesame Oil (Til)     - 1/4 cup or so (this pickle doesn't need too much of oil)

Method:

1. Wash the lemons and dry them with a towel
2. Cut them into dices (a big lemon can be cut into 4 halves) and deseed them
3. Place these in a clean bottle (ensure it has no water and dried)
4. To this add turmeric powder and salt

I let the above-mix soak for 3-4 days with daily stirring. To stir, use a dried ladle.

1. End of Day 3 or 4, you can see the texture change and the lime juice will be seen. 
2. To this, add the cut green chilies. 
3. Allow it to soak for another  day or two (I did to allow the chili soak in well with the lemon juice)

After Day 5-6, the lemon and chilies are well soaked and the skin of lemon would have changed color.

1. Now, add the chili powder or pickle powder and hing
2. Taste for salt, if needed add a bit more
3. In a kadai, add oil. If you like it, add some mustard seeds. As they crackle, remove from fire
4. Add this to the pickle mix and stir it well with the ladle. (If the bottle is with small mouth, you can move the entire mix to a broad vessel, mix well and then bottle it again)
5. Allow this mix to soak for another 4-5 days at least. 

Change of texture is the best indication of readiness of the pickle. First attempt was well received :)

Next in the making : Vadu Manga... can't wait :)

Mango Cut Pieces Pickle

Come summer, its time for "mango rains" at least for a few months and many of us try to make the most of it; So, do I :) But there is a certain variety of mango which is available almost through the year except for a few months here & there - the 'kili mooku mango' (the end of this mango appears like the nose of a parrot).

This mango can be used in many ways:

• Just slice them, sprinkle some chillie powder and salt and relish (prevalent near the beaches of Chennai etc)
• Grate it to make some delicious salad (with other veg of your preference or ginger or alone with chilli powder / green chillie etc)
• An instant pickle that can be relished with curd rice etc. Wash the mangoes, clean, cut it into cubes. In a container, add these diced pieces, diced green chillies (preferably moderate spicy ones), salt to taste and shake to mix all ingredients. Leave it to soak for 30 mts to 1 hour before using. Have it with curd rice (best companion) or any other form of rice mix you might have -- especially when you have pazhaya soru (left over rice soaked in water during the night & consumed next day morning with butter milk, salt and this pickle)
• Grate it and make Mango Thokku (will share the recipe when I prepare this) using either Red Chillies or Green Chillies
• Cut it into small pieces, add it to any sprouts that you may have 
• If its moderate ripe you can cut it into small dices, add some chillie powder, salt, and a few spoons of coconut oil -- you can add a bit of sugar if it is tangy (this is a Kerala style preparation)
• Many more such uses...

Here, am going to share the recipe to prepare Cut Piece Pickle using Red Chillie powder. You will find these served in many of the South Indian marriages and functions. Ideally, this is an instant pickle and is for short term use. However, you can refrigerate and use it for a little longer. 

Ingredients:

1. Kili mooku mangoes : 2 (Regular size)
2. Red Chillie Powder : 1-2 tbspn (or as spicy as you need and as tangy the mangoes are)
3. Salt : to taste
4. Asafoetida/ Hing: 1 tspn
5. Turmeric Powder: 1/2 tspn
6. Feenugreek Powder : 1-2 tspn (Dry roast feenugreek seeds and powder it)
7. Mustard Seeds Powder: 1 tspn (Dry roast and powder)
8. Sesame Oil (Til /gingely Oil): 1/2 cup (you can add more later if rqd)

Method:

1. Wash and wipe the mangoes
2. Put them into small pieces (as small as you like) & place them in a vessel 

   *** Style 1***

1. Add turmeric, chillie, hing, salt, feenugreek and mustard powder to the cut mangoes. Shake it to ensure its mixed
2. In a kadai, heat the oil. As it heats up, remove from fire and pour it into this mixed mangoes
3. Shake it well & allow it to cool
4. Once cool, place it in air tight container -- Refrigerate it to use for longer periods. 

 *** Style 2***

1. Add salt to the cut mangoes. Shake it to ensure its mixed and keep it aside.
2. In a kadai, heat the oil. As it heats up, reduce the flame, and add chillie, turmeric, feenugreek, and mustard powders and finally hing. Immediately, remove from fire and pour it into the salted mangoes.
3. Shake it well & allow it to cool
4. Once cool, place it in air tight container -- Refrigerate it to use for longer periods. 

Bitter Gourd Pickle

Bitter Gourd (Karela / Pagarkai) initially was force fed (and mostly so for many) to me... However, with time, I did realize that it is one of the richest vegetables. So, was keen to know the various dishes possible such that one can relish it. Stuffed, fried, spicy gravy with tamarind, are some possibilities. One that I found recently was that we can also make pickle out of the same.

I did try & believe me it went down almost everyone's throats so easily :)

Ingredients: (As I used)

Bitter Gourd : 2 big size (4 medium size)

Small Onions (Shallots): 10 (cut into thin slices)

Garlic: 10 pods (per your taste; cut into thin slices)

Ginger: 2 inches (per your taste; cut into thin slices)

Curry Leaves: to garnish

Gingely Oil: 4-5 tbspn (this pickle doesn't need excess oil & needs to be refrigerated)

Turmeric Powder:  1 tspn

Salt: to taste 

Mustard Seeds: 1 tspn

Fenugreek Seeds: 1/2 tspn

Tamarind: 1 small lemon sized (soaked in water)

Jaggery: 1 small piece (powdered)

Green Chilli: 5 nos (slit)

Red Chillie Powder: 2-3 tspn 

Hing: 2 pinch

Method:

1. Clean, wipe, remove the seeds and slice them into 1/2 inch slices or desired shape (rings etc)
2. Place them in a bowl, add a tspn of salt, mix it and leave them for an hour
3. Pick the same mix and leave it in sun for a couple of hours to ensure they are dried
4. In a deep pan, add a few tbspn of oil and fry these dried pieces in small lots, till they turn golden brown 
5. Take them and place it on a plate with tissue papers to absorb the oil
6. In another pan, add 2-3 tbspn of oil. As it heats up, add the mustard seeds. As they splutter, add the fenugreek seeds. As it becomes reddish, add the curry leaves. Saute for a minute.
7. To this, add the slit green chilies, garlic, ginger, and onions. Fry them till they are cooked or become golden brown.
8. To this mix, add the tamarind extract (to balance between the bitterness and spice)
9. Add the red chillie powder, hing and allow it for a minute
10. Then add Salt and the fried bitter gourd pieces to this. Mix well, and allow it to cook on a small-medium flame for 5-7 mts (if you have not fried the pieces well enough, then you will need to keep it for 10-12 mts to ensure the pieces are well cooked)
11. Add the powdered jagery and mix well.
12. Remove from fire and allow it to cool
13. Pack it in air tight container & refrigerate it

You can serve this with hot chapatis and / or rice. Can also serve as dry subji if you make it less tangy and spicy.

Tips: Instead of tamarind, you can also use Lemon Juice or Vinegar

[Source: Customized from various online recipes]

Anaheim Pepper / Italian Pepper Pickle

Anaheim / Italian pepper, is popularly known as "Bajji milagai" down south. As the name indicates, this is most used to make stuffed green chilli bajji. For want of variety, I attempted at making a pickle of these amazing looking chillis. Wow, my experiment clicked. So, here it is, my recipe for chilli pickle.

Ingredients:

• Italian Pepper / bajji milagai   : 250 gms / ~ 25 numbers

• Tamarind   / Imli / Puli           : Small Lemon size soaked in water

• Coriander / Dhaniya powder    : 1 tspn

• Turmeric Powder                    : 1/2 tspn

• Red Chillie powder                  : 2 tspn

• Jaggery / Gud / Vellam           : 1 tspn

• Salt                                       : Per taste

• Mustard / Rai / Kadugu          : 1 tspn powdered (Dry fry it and powder)

• Feenugreek / Methi /Vendhayam: 1.5 tspn powdered (Dry fry it and powder)

• Gingely Oil / Nallenai / til oil  : 2-4 serving spoon (small sized) 

Procedure:

1. Wash, dry and slit the chillis, remove the seeds and cut into small pieces 
2. In a kadai (pan), add enough oil. As soon as it warms, add the turmeric powder, coriander powder, and chilli powder 
3. Immediately, add the diced chilli. Just fry it for a few seconds. Keep checking if the oil level is enough to cook the pickle. The chillis will start shrinking as they get cooked
4. At this point, add the tamarind juice (just enough to add a tangy taste and balance the chilli's spice)
5. To this mix, add salt
6. Keep stirring from time to time. Cook it till the chilli shrinks and starts leaving out oil
7. Before removing from fire, add the jaggery powder and stir it a few seconds 
8. Remove from fire, and add the Mustard and Feenugreek powder
9. Cool it and store it 
10. Server it with rice, idli, dosas, or any other snacks / breakfast menus including Upmas / Pohas etc

Tips: 

• The powders will lose its raw smell easily if added to the warm oil; also, the chilli powder in the warm oil will give a good red color.

• Adding jaggery powder will balance the tangy and spicy tastes in the pickle.

• Use of oil is your choice. If limited oil is used, then its best to refrigerate it. 

• If refrigerated and used with proper care (away from water etc), this can be stored for weeks