Have you ever made anything out of an incessant craving? That's how this pickle was born. I was reading this book Madeleine in Manhattan by Colette Rossant. It's a memoir with recipes. And throughout she discusses here adventures with cooking, the markets and shops she visited for ingredients and the parties she hosted not to forget the cookbooks she authored.
As I read her munching pickled olives I had this sudden craving for chilli pickle. I had recently finished a store brought chilli pickle with some home made paranthas and we were getting bored with our South Indian style of pickle making. And so I decided to browse some recipes for chilli pickle online. I found this interesting recipe at the Homemaker's diary and scaled it up to my requirements. This also happens to be the first pickle that I sundried for longevity. I haven't opened the bottle and two bottles have been ransacked by my brother in law in his Easter visit. My cousin who tasted the pickle says its yummy and I would like to express my gratitude to Homemaker and her blog for helping me achieve this feat.
The photos this time too was taken in my Hero3 camera my hubby's recent introduction into his gadget family. This camera is definitely good for it's underwater stunts and other adventures but as far as I am concerned I find it less appealing to my canon. I might be wrong here because we have not figured out all it's features so the photos haven't turned out well to my expectations. Nevertheless the recipe is great and can still be followed. So next time you think pickle, think chilli, they aren't very expensive but makes a great treat.
Ingredients for Instant Chilli Pickle ( Recipe source- A homemakers diary)
Green chillies chopped- 300gm
Lemon -2
Vinegar- 6 tbsp
Mustard seeds- 3 tbsp
Methi ( Fenugreek) seeds- 1 1/2 tbsp
Turmeric powder- 1 1/2 tsp
Split mustard (yellow in colour)- 5 tbsp
Split fenugreek - 2 tbsp
Mustard oil- 600 ml
Salt- 5 tsp
Directions
Cut the green chillies into medium pieces after washing and drying them. Transfer the chillies to a non reactive bowl add the salt and vinegar. Mix well and set aside for an hour.
Dry roast (without oil) the fenugreek seeds and mustard seeds and coarsely grind it into a powder. Peel the lemons and chop them. Add them to the chillies. After an hour mix the ground powder, turmeric, split mustard and split fenugreek seeds.
Mix well and keep the bowl aside. Heat the mustard oil till smoking. Once the oil cools down pour it onto the bottles with the pickle. The oil should stand above the pickle.
Place the bottles in a sunny place for few days before you start using them. You will notice in few days that the dark green colour of the pickle has changed to a pale green. I sundried my pickle for 5 days I wanted to for 7 days but then they were ransacked by bhai.
I used mustard oil but you could try sunflower, ground nut or sesame oil too. And sorry about the pics again. I am planning a post on Colette's book it's mostly the recipes that interested me I am sure it'll make a good read.