thecookscottage

Fresh Turmeric Pickle- Fresh Haldi Pickle

Even though the most turmeric in India is grown in Erode in Tamilnadu, Sangli in Maharashtra is the second largest trading post for haldi /  turmeric after Hyderabad .Large quantities of dried turmeric passes through on its way around the world.

There are two  types of haldi grown in Maharashtra . One is a bright yellow with a hard rhizome called "Lokhandi" ( lokhand meaning iron) and the other is a soft rhizome with a lighter colour. called "gadvi"

The fresh turmeric has  a lovely piquant taste and when cut looks so much like carrot.  It has a great flavour ..like nothing else, least of all the spice powder we all know!

I make just enough for one or two meals. A nice accompaniment to any meal, Indian or continental.

Ingredients

2 " fat piece of fresh turmeric / haldi

Juice of 1 lime

1 green chilli, minced

Julienne the haldi into very fine strips. Add the lime juice and green chilli and mix well. Store in the fridge. It will last for at least a week.

Serve with vegetables or chicken.

 

Aubergine, Baingan Pickle

Ingredients

500 gms brinjal ,cubed

20 gms salt, for marinating

50 gms peeled garlic

40 gms fresh ginger,

Peel both and make into a paste.

25 gms tamarind paste.Made fresh.

50 gms jaggery/ gur, grated

20 gms chilli powder

5 gms black pepper

5 gms rai / mustard seed

3 gms methi /fenugreek,

Roast all three and powder.

 

2  elaichi /cardomom

1inch stick dalchini /cinnamon

2 cloves .

Powder all three

50 ml vinegar

40 gms salt for pickling

150 ml.

Method:

Marinate the cubed brinjal in 20 gms salt for 4 hours. Squeeze out the water released and keep.

Stir fry the salted brinjal in 2 tbsp of oil till tender and set aside.

Heat 2 tsp oil and pop the mustard seeds. Add the ginger garlic paste to the mustard seeds and saute for a minute or two.

Add some more oil to the same pan, heat it and then add the tamarind paste, vinegar, jaggery and salt.

Bring to the boil and allow to thicken over a high flame.

Now add the fried brinjal and the remaining oil and cook till blended adding the spices . Continue to cook for a few minutes. Remove from fire when the mixture becomes dry and the oil seperates.

Bottle.

This pickle lasts for 2 months.

Courtesy: Usha's Pickle Digest

 

 

Mustard and Green Tomato Pickle

Mustard seed is cultivated all over the world today and the plant flourishes in most temperate climates. There are several varieties and one of them is the typical Indian mustard seed which is brown in colour and originated from the Northern Himalayas. It is scientifically known as Brassica Juncea and has a flavour all its own.When ground into a powder, it does not have the brilliant yellow colour of prepared mustard, as produced in the US.The ubiquitous American mustard, which spills out and slops over most fast food , hot dogs and hamburgers, sandwiches and fries, achieves its unreal colour through the addition to powdered yellow mustard of Allepey turmeric, a haldi harvested in Kerala! Mustard grows extensively in Bihar and Bengal which is why it is used so frequently in the cuisines of those states. In Maharashtra as well , one of the most commonly used spices is rai.
And yet I associate mustard most with Punjab, where fields of yellow mustard flowers stretch to reach the horizon and cooking Makki di Roti ( Flat Corn bread) and Sarson da Sag, a vegetable made from slow cooking mustard greens, are the only way to celebrate the end of winter. The following recipe for a mild pickle uses a yellow mustard but our more pungent brown mustard will do nicely too. Here mustard acts both to perk up the pickle and as a preservative, to retard bacterial growth.

Ingredients:

2 kg green tomatoes, chopped
4 large onions, sliced
2 tsp yellow mustard seeds
1 kg cane sugar
1 1/2 tsp black pepper
2 tsp cloves
40 gms salt ( sea salt if possible)
1 litre malt vinegar

Put all the ingredients together in a heavy pan. Bring to the boil then reduce heat and let the mixture simmer for about 2 hours stirring occasionally. When it has become a pulp and the liquid has reduced turn off the heat and take off the fire.Pour into sterilised glass bottles immediately.

How to sterilise jam jars:Take a heavy bottomed saucepan, (the bottom of a 5 litre pressure cooker will do) , and place 4 -5 bottles in it. Cover with water and bring to a boil. Let it boil for 15 minutes.Pop the lids in for the last 5 minutes. Remove from the hot water and stand upright on a tea towel. Fill with the hot pickle upto a 1/4 inch from the top. Cover with butterpaper and screw lids on tight. Refrigeration will help preserve the taste of the mustard . 

Another green tomato recipe.