Quick Tomato Pickle

I got an extra kilo of tomatoes on my first online grocery order. They were slightly on the riper side than what I would normally have bought.  I felt I had to use them at the earliest.   Looking through the recipes that  had been bookmarked, I came across this one from Priya .

The recipe is simple. Few ingredients. Simple procedure.  Tastes good from day one, but even better, I felt, after a couple of days. It will last for a month if stored in the refrigerator.

Ingredients: - For 200 gms of pickle

Tomato - 1/2 kg - chop and keep
Tamarind *- one lemon sized ball - I used a tbsp of tamarind paste
Red chili powder - 2 tbsp
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Asafoetida - a pinch
Oil - 2 tbsp
Garlic pods - few ( optional)

Powder -
Dry roast and grind to a fine powder 1 tbsp of mustard and 1/2 tbsp of fenugreek seeds.  (You don't need to use all of it.  Make it in slighly large quantities if you find it easy to grind larger quantities and store in a bottle.)  Make sure you do not burn the fenugreek seeds, for you will get that extra bitterness that is totally undersirable.

Now proceed -

Heat a deep pan, put in the chopped tomatoes and cover and allow it to cook in its juices for about 20 minutes.  You can periodically stir and mash till it turns into a nice thickish pulpy mass

(* If you use tamarind, use 1/2 cup of hot water to extract the pulp - cool, strain and keep aside)

Now add the tamarind extract/paste and simmer till further thickened

Add the red chili powder, the freshly ground mustard-fenugreek powder and salt. You may not need all of it. Continue to simmer

Take a seasoning pan - add oil, mustard, allow it to splutter, then the asafoetida, and the garlic.  Remove from heat and add it to the tomato mixture.  Mix well.

Cook for another 5 minutes.  Switch off heat.  Allow to cool completely and bottle.  Store in the refrigerator.

If you can tolerate the spice, add the chilie powder rather generously.

Enjoy with rice, roti or dosa.  The choice is yours .....

Mango Chunda

This has been a favourite of mine.  A grand uncle married a nice Gujarati lady who introduced Chunda to my family.  When I was expecting my elder one, a bottle of Chunda that was specially sent for me, slipped out of the packet and broke at the doorstep.  I burst into tears.  Everyone thought I was highly emotional because of my 'condition', but I secretly know that even now, 30 years later I would probably react the same way if home made Chunda was denied to me.  I was therefore very happy when I stumbled onto this site ( which sadly is not being updated) and found a microwave variation of the Chunda.  I made it right away.

Traditionally, all the ingredients are mixed, put in a glass jar with a well fitting lid and kept in the sun till the sugar melts and with the natural heat it turns syrupy.  The taste is slightly different, since the ingredients blend and soaks in the syrup slowly.  V said the 'flavour' of the sun was missing.  But it did not matter to me.  I had my Chunda!

Ingredients:
Raw mango - 1 cup - washed, peeled and grated fine
Salt - 1/2 tsp
Turmeric - 1/4 tsp
Sugar - 1 1/2 cup
Red chilie powder - 1 tbsp
Roasted cumin - 1 tsp - crush after roasting
Water - 1 tbsp

Mix the grated mango, salt and turmeric in a microwave safe bowl.  Keep for 5 mins
Add sugar, water - mix well -
Microwave on high heat for 3 minutes ( I kept it for 30 secs more)
The sugar should form a one thread syrup consistency
Remove and cool.
Add the chilie powder and the crushed roasted jeera.  Mix.

And presto!  Mango Chunda is ready.
The Chunda may seem slightly thin when hot, but will thicken as it cools

Carrot Pickle - the instant variety

I found this on Just Homemade - and R had used some very colourful fresh carrots and the photographs were lovely and it seemed so easy.  For a change we had just seasoned curd rice for dinner and this seemed the right thing to make with it.  I used just one chili and maybe it could have just passed off as a tasty salad.  Call it what you will, but it is simple to make and tastes great.

Ingredients:
Carrots / Gajar - 1 medium - for best results use tender baby carrots - in that case use 2-3 nos
Green chilies - 2 nos - slit lengthwise
Mustard powder - 1 tsp - (I used a mixture of mustard and fenugreek seeds) - it is recommended that you use the yellow mustard
Lime juice - 1 tsp
Olive oil - 1 tsp
Salt to taste
Turmeric - pinch

Julienne the carrot
Add the rest of the ingredients.
Toss
Serve

As simple as that.
If it lasts beyond one meal. Put in bottle and refrigerate.  Said to last for 3-4 days.

Dosakaya (Yellow Cucumber) pickle

I have always liked this crunchy pickle that Andhraites make.  And never realised it was so simple. It is no work at all.  I saw this at Sailu's Food and made it with a little variation.  One extra ingredient and less oil.

Yellow cucumber - this picture is from Tarla Dalal site - here they look more like yellow water melons, but they are tinier - like an apple or a pear.

Ingredients:
Dosakaya - 1
Chilie powder - 4 tbsp
Salt - 1-2 tbsp
Mustard powder - 1/4 tbsp
Fenugreek (Methi) powder - 1/4 tsp
Oil - 4-5 tbsp.  I must have used only 2 spoons.  Preferably raw til (sesame) oil, but here I used refined vegetable oil
Seaoning - optional - oil and mustard seeds

Like for any pickle, there should be no moisture - even though this one is a temporary pickle - it is better to make sure there is no extra water content. The cucumber should be washed and wiped totally dry.
The skin is retained in the pickle since it adds to the crunch, which is the best part of the pickle!

Cut open the cucumber and de-seed. Make into even sized cubes.
Mustard and Fenugreek should be dry roasted, powdered, cooled and added to the cut pieces
Add the salt and chilie powder.  Salt can be adjusted later on also.
Mix. Cover and keep.  ( Since the temperatures have soared here, I cling wrapped the dish and kept it in the refrigerator)
By the next day the moisture from the cucumber will seep into the dry ingredients.
In 24 hours a delicious, crunchy pickle is ready to be consumed.
Season if you like it that way.  But allow the seasoning to cool before you add it to the pickle. Mix well.

The pickle will last for a couple of months if stored under refrigerated temperatures.  But one cucumber will hardly last a few days and you can make it fresh any time - it is so simple!
Enjoy with hot rice

Ginger Pickle

My neighbour  gave me some lovely andhra ginger pickle.  This has been a favourite at home and I always bought the Priya pickle which is extremely good.  But the freshly made pickle had a special taste of its own.  I asked her for the recipe and she immediately went into her store and got out an old diary which had recipes that her mother had written.  She also had a traditional cup measure that she used for the ingredients and I just substituted it with some approximate measures.  And the brilliant red colour of her pickle was due to Byadgi chilie powder (that I did not have). Nevertheless, I was ready to experiment, but in small quatities.  I picked up 100 gms of ginger which resulted in half a bottle of the finished product.  Nothing like home made pickle....

Mrs NCM's recipe -

Ingredients:

Ginger - 250 gms
Tamarind - 250 gms
Garlic - 100 gms - peel - keep about 1/4 of this for seasoning
Oil - 250 gms ( part of this to be used for seasoning)
Chilie powder - 100 gms *
Sugar - 100 gms **
Salt - to taste
Methi powder - 1/2 tsp ( roasted and ground)

Seasoning:
Oil
Bengal gram dal (Chana) - 1 tsp
Black gram dal (Urad ) - 1 tsp
Mustard - 1 tsp
Curry leaves - one sprig
Peeled garlic cloves


If you are using raw tamarind.  Wash well.
Heat water. Cool. Soak tamarind for a few hours.
I used tamarind paste - it said on the packet - 1 tsp equiv. to 1 lime sized piece of tamarind. I took that as 20 gms approximately.

Wash ginger well - peel and then chop into small pieces
Blend to fine paste
Add the softened tamarind after squeezing out all the water.
And sugar, garlic, salt
Grind to smooth paste.

Remove.

Take the oil, heat, add the mustard, dals.  When mustard splutters add garlic and a little later the curry leaves.  Cool and then add to the ginger paste. Add the remaining oil as well.

Put in clean bottle with a well fitting lid.

* Chilie powder quantity will vary according to the pungency.
** Jaggery is traditionally added. But one has to be careful to see that there are no impurities.
You will need to check the taste sometime to see if it needs a little more salt, chilie or sugar.  And that is not an easy job if you do it periodically like I did :-)