341) KONKANI TENDER BAMBOO PICKLE

KONKANI TENDER BAMBOO PICKLE

KIRLU AMBADA NONCHE

Introduction:

          Konkani kirlu ambada nonche is a supremely delicious, hot, tangy and salty tender bamboo and hog plum pickle. Traditionally, this pickle is prepared using fresh unprocessed tender bamboo pickle. You can also make the pickle using salted tender bamboo pieces (see my tender bamboo in Konkani cuisine article). While using fresh bamboo, the sap is retained and the bamboo pieces are crisp and crunchy.

          When you use salted bamboo, the pieces are soft. So too, as hog plums were not available, I have used fresh green acerola cherries which grow in our courtyard with surprising results. They are crisp, tangy and thrillingly delicious. This pickle will truly sweep you off your feet!

Ingredients:

     1)    Kirlu (fresh tender bamboo, Mulankoombe in Malayalam) pieces or juliennes – 300 gm. 

     2)    Green acerola cherries – 200 gm. OR fresh tender hog plums – 200 gm.

     3)    Mustard (preferably sun-dried for 2 hours) – 50 gm.

     4)    Dry Kashmiri chilies (preferably sun-dried for 2 hours) – 25 gm.

     5)    Dry hot red chilies (preferably sun-dried for 2 hours) – 25 gm.

     6)    Asafoetida powder – 2 gm. (½ teaspoon)

     7)    Salt – 50 gm.

     8)    Water – 500 ml.

To make mitta paej (brine):

          Put the salt and the water together in a vessel and set on the stove. Stir till the salt dissolves. Boil for 5 minutes and switch off the heat. Let cool naturally.

To make the pickle:

          Put the mustard into the dry grind jar (preferably sun-dried) of your food processor, grind to fine powder and set aside. Put both the chilies together with the brine into the wet grind jar (preferably sun-dried) of your food processor and grind to superfine paste in 2 or 3 batches. Transfer to a clean, dry mixing bowl.

Tip in the mustard powder, the asafoetida powder, the acerola cherries (or the hog plums) and the bamboo pieces. Mix thoroughly with a clean dry ladle. Transfer the pickle to a sun-dried airtight jar. Close the lid and store in a cool, dry place to rest for 5 to 7 days. Your delicious Konkani kirlu ambada nonche (in this case, kirlu cherry nonche) is ready to eat. Enjoy with rice, roasted idlis, machkats, nuchi, undis, soyyea polos or with shevai.

 

Bon appétit!

Notes:

     1)    Take care to refrigerate the pickle once you start using it. Always use a clean, dry spoon.

     2)    The ingredients and utensils are sun-dried to remove unwanted moisture and to gain a longer shelf-life.

331) BAMBOO SHOOT PICKLE

BAMBOO SHOOT PICKLE

A HOT, TANGY, CRUNCHY TENDER BAMBOO PICKLE

Ingredients:

     1)    Processed (for processing instructions, please see my tender bamboo in Konkani cuisine article), finely chopped tender bamboo pieces – 625 gm.

     2)    Peeled garlic cloves – 75 gm.

     3)    Peeled, finely chopped ginger – 5 gm.

     4)    Hot green chilies – 15 gm.

     5)    Sesame (gingelly) oil – 150 ml.

     6)    Hot red chili powder – 10 gm.

     7)    Kashmiri chili powder – 15 gm.

     8)    Mustard seeds – 3 gm.

     9)    Mustard powder – 10 gm.

     10)    Turmeric powder – 2 gm.

     11)    Asafoetida powder – 2 gm.

     12)    Curry leaves – 2 sprigs

     13)   Sugar – 25 gm.

     14)    Powdered salt – 35 gm.

     15)    Vinegar – 150 ml.

To cook:

          Put the hot red chili powder, the Kashmiri chili powder, the mustard powder, the turmeric powder, the asafoetida powder, the sugar and the powdered salt into a small bowl and mix thoroughly. Chop the hot green chilies to fine bits and set aside.

          Set a wok or frying pan on high heat. Pour in the oil and tip in the mustard seeds. As soon as the mustard seeds are about to finish popping, pull the curry leaves off their sprig and throw them in. Stir once and tip in the chopped chili, the ginger and the garlic cloves. Lower the heat and stir-fry for a minute.

          Now put in the tender bamboo and turn up the heat. Mix thoroughly and stir continuously for 2 minutes. Lower the heat and stir frequently for 3 more minutes. Pour in half of the vinegar (75 ml.), mix thoroughly and switch off the heat.

          Let cool naturally without a lid. When cool, transfer to four small (200 ml.) airtight jars and pour the rest of the vinegar on top of the pickle. Seal and set aside to rest for 3 days.

Enjoy this delicious bamboo shoot pickle with rice, chappatis, dosas, machkats, biriyani, fried rice or just about any food you like. This pickle is so good you will finish it in no time!

Bon appétit!

Note:

          Once a jar is opened for use, keep it refrigerated for freshness.

299) GREEN LEMON PICKLE

GREEN LEMON PICKLE

A HOT, TANGY, SAVOURY, MOUTHWATERING PICKLE

 

Ingredients (to make around 600 ml.):

     1)    Fresh green lemons or limes – 500 gm.

     2)    Pickle powder – 100 gm.

     3)    Garlic – 2 pods

     4)    Ginger – ½ inch piece

     5)    Hot green chilies – 4 Nos.

     6)    Turmeric powder – ¼ teaspoon

     7)    Sugar – 25 gm.

     8)    Salt – 80 gm.

     9)    Curry leaves – 2 sprigs

     10)     Citric acid – ½ teaspoon (optional)

     11)     Water – 500 ml.

Homegrown organic green lemons

To prepare:

          Peel the garlic cloves and set aside. Cut the lemons to small pieces of around 1 cm. (½ inch) size and keep aside. Cut each green chili to 2 or 3 pieces and set aside. Peel the ginger, chop it finely and put aside. Pull the curry leaves off their sprigs and set aside.

To cook:

          Set a stainless steel curry vessel on high heat. Pour in 500 ml. of water and tip in the salt. Stir the salt until it dissolver fully. As soon as the solution comes to a boil, tip in the chopped lemon, the sugar and the turmeric powder. Let boil for 5 minutes. Now tip in the chopped ginger, the garlic cloves, the green chili pieces and the pickle powder. Stir well until it mixes in nicely.

          Tip in the curry leaves and stir for a minute. Put in the citric acid and mix nicely (citric acid is not required if you intend to refrigerate the pickle in an airtight jar and to use clean, dry spoons for serving).

Your delicious green lemon pickle is ready now. Switch off the heat and let cool to room temperature. Do not use a lid, for the condensed steam dripping back into the pickle can spoil it. As soon as the pickle has cooled, transfer to a couple of clean, dry, airtight 300 ml. jars.

This cooked pickle does not need to rest as some of the other pickles do, but it tastes even better after marinating for a couple of days. Serve with breakfast, lunch, dinner and supper!

Enjoy!!!

Note:

     1)    Green lemon pickle thickens after resting for a few days. If you like using it more as a dipping pickle than as a licking pickle, please dilute it a little bit with water before use.

     2)    Green lemon pickle is one of the best pickles to bring back the taste to your palate. It will make you salivate the moment you open the lid of the jar.

281) GREEN ORANGE DATE PICKLE

GREEN ORANGE DATE PICKLE

A GOURMET’S DELIGHT

Introduction:

One morning, perhaps 4 years ago, when I had just started this blog, my husband plucked a couple of green oranges from a sweet orange bush in our nursery and put them in my hands. While green sweet orange is sour and bitter, the fragrance of its thick peel is indeed bewitching and beats the flavour of any other variety of orange peel that I know of. Its entrancing smell brought forth the idea of creating the green orange date pickle.

I made the pickle, put it in an airtight jar and forgot all about it. As we shifted our residence from the coast to the hills, the jar travelled with us and found its place at the back of a shelf in the storeroom. Yesterday, while rummaging, the jar came out. My husband and I were having Pichpichi Upma for supper. I served him a spoonful of the pickle. Four years of resting had dissolved the pulp of the orange, leaving just the delicious, thick, softened peel. The date pieces too were surprisingly soft and full of the flavour of the orange peel. The sauce had the consistency of thick honey.

As I saw the delightful expressions of sweetness, tanginess and sheer joy come one after the other on my husband’s face, I hunted out my old recipe sketch then and there to share with you this simple, wonderful recipe.

Ingredients:

     1)    Green sweet orange – 2 Nos.

     2)    Dates with stones removed – 200 gm.

     3)    Ginger – 1-inch piece

     4)    Hot green chilies – 4 Nos.

     5)    Hot red chili powder – 100 gm.

     6)    Pickle powder – 100 gm.

     7)    Turmeric powder – ½ teaspoon

     8)    Vinegar – 200 ml.

     9)    Sugar – 300 gm.

     10)     Salt – 200 gm.

     11)     Water – 300 ml.

To make:

Cut the oranges together with the pulp into small pieces and set aside. Peel the ginger and chop to fine bits. Cut each date into two or three pieces. Slit each green chili lengthwise and cut into halves across the centre.

Put the water, the salt and the sugar into a vessel and set on high heat. Stir till the salt and sugar dissolves fully. As it comes to a boil, tip in the orange and the ginger. Let boil for 5 minutes.

Now put in the dates and the chilies. Stir well and tip in the chili powder, the pickle powder and the turmeric powder. Mix nicely for 2 to 3 minutes and pour in half of the vinegar. Stir once and switch off the heat. Cover with a lid and let cool naturally.

Once cool, transfer to a clean, sundried, airtight glass jar. Top up with the rest of the vinegar. Close the lid and store for a couple of months. Remember, old is gold and patience is virtue. If left undisturbed, the pickle will keep for years.

Enjoy the treasure!!!

275) FIRST MILK PICKLE

FIRST MILK PICKLE

THE HEALTHIEST EVER PICKLE

Introduction:

          Most farmers in Wayanad supplement their income through a little dairy farming. Besides keeping indigenous cows, these farmers also possess high milk yielding breeds like Jersey and Holstein-Friesian. Each of these cows give 10 to 25 litres of milk a day. The milk which is produced on the day of calving is often quite thick, buttery yellow in colour and smells of eggs. This first milk is so rich that the calf is not allowed to drink more than a couple of litres as overfeeding may lead to indigestion, diarrhea and death. Hence the farmers simply throw the excess first milk down the drain. Some farmers even discard the milk for the first and second week as well.

We were shocked to hear about such wastage which would add up to tens of thousands of litres of fine milk every day. This milk is so rich in fat, proteins, antibodies, calcium, vitamins and other minerals. Have you noticed with what love the mother cow looks at her newborn calf? Naturally, the milk would contain a good portion of this overflowing, unconditional love. How can it be wasted? We hear of so many little children dying of malnutrition and so many people going hungry around the world. Isn’t it right to wonder if it is not the callous wastage of food and the selfishness of humans which leads to such misery?

One of the reasons I freely share my recipes and thoughts with you is due to our earnest hope that the consciousness of many a human being may lose its hardness of heart and warm up with sentiments of love, of the joy of giving, of sharing, of caring for and of comforting all in need. Perhaps we could begin by avoiding wastage of food at home. Maybe we could share excess food, if any, with some neighbours who are old or infirm or poor or with hungry neighbourhood children. I hope we always remember that everybody is a child of Mother Earth and that everyone has a right to enjoy the magnanimous bounty of nature.

We asked our milkman to bring us this freshest first milk whenever one of his cows would give birth. I experimented with this milk and was able to create several wonderful recipes, one of which is the first milk pickle. My family just loves it. I am sure so will you.

To cook the first milk:

Collect as much excess first milk as may be available. Add salt to taste and stir well. Choose a non-stick bowl or vessel which will fit into a steamer. If the bowl is not a non-stick one, line it with butter paper or a non-stick cooking paper or a banana leaf and pour in the milk. Put it in the steamer and steam for 15 to 20 minutes. Open the lid and stick in the tip of a knife to check if cooked. When fully cooked, the first milk will become hard as cheese. Lift out the cooked milk and set aside to cool naturally.

When cool, overturn it on a cutting board, remove the butter paper and cut it into small cubes of around 1 centimeter. If there are too many, you can preserve the excess cubes in brine for later use. To make the brine, boil 500 gm. of salt per litre of water and then tip in the cubes. Boil again for 5 minutes and switch off the heat. When cool, transfer to a dry airtight container. Top it up with 100 ml. of vinegar, close the lid tight and store in a cool dark place. These cubes can be retrieved any time you wish to make more pickle or can be used in place of Paneer (Indian cottage cheese) or can simply be desalted (by soaking in water) and eaten like cheese.

Ingredients:

     1)    Fresh or salted first milk cubes (see note) – 800 gm.

     2)    Gingelly oil (sesame oil) – 100 ml.

     3)    Mustard seeds – ½ teaspoon

     4)    Fenugreek seeds – ½ teaspoon

     5)    Peeled garlic cloves – 150 gm.

     6)    Pigeon eye chilies – 15 Nos.

     7)    Peeled ginger – 1 inch piece

     8)    Curry leaves – 1 sprig

     9)    Cinnamon stick – 2 inch piece

     10)     Cloves – 5 Nos.

     11)     Turmeric powder – ¼ teaspoon

     12)     Hot red chili powder – 1½ teaspoons

     13)     Pickle powder – 5 teaspoons

     14)     Garam masala powder – ½ teaspoon

     15)     Mustard powder – 2 tablespoons

     16)     Sugar – 2 teaspoons

     17)     Salt – 1 teaspoon (for salted cubes) OR 1½ teaspoons (for unsalted cubes)

     18)     Water – 600 ml.

     19)     Vinegar – 100 ml.

     20)     Coconut oil or any other cooking oil to deep-fry the cubes – 500 ml.

To cook:

Set a wok or deep pan on high heat. Pour in the coconut oil. As soon as the oil is hot (it should not smoke), tip in the first milk cubes. Stir occasionally till the cubes are golden brown. As the cubes tend to do a little muttering and murmuring as they fry, please do not stand too close to the wok to avoid the chance spitting of hot oil. Once the cubes are golden brown, turn off the heat, lift up the cubes, drain off the excess oil and set aside.

Slit the pigeon eye chilies lengthwise on one side. Chop the peeled ginger to fine bits. Set a wok or a deep frying pan on high heat. Pour in the gingelly oil and throw in the mustard seeds.as soon as the mustard seeds are about to finish spluttering, lower the heat and throw in the fenugreek seeds. Stir for a minute. Pull the curry leaves off their sprig and throw them in. Tip in the chopped ginger, the garlic and the pigeon eye chilies and stir for 4 minutes on low heat.

Now put in the turmeric powder, the chili powder, the pickle powder, the mustard powder, the garam masala powder, the cinnamon stick, the salt and the sugar and stir for a minute. Chuck in the fried first milk cubes and stir well for 2 minutes. Now pour in the water and turn up the heat. Once it comes to a boil, stir nicely for 2 more minutes and switch off the heat. Once cool, pour in the vinegar and mix well.

Transfer to a sun-dried, airtight container and close the lid tight. Keep undisturbed for at least three days at room temperature. Your mouthwatering first milk pickle is now ready to serve. Open the container and mix the pickle up nicely with a dry spoon. Enjoy with rice or with any other meal.

Bon appétit!!!

Notes:

     1)    The first milk pickle tastes best when made using fresh first milk cubes. This time, I made the pickle using salted first milk cubes as fresh first milk was not readily available. While using fresh first milk cubes, take care to taste the pickle and add more salt if required.

     2)    First milk pickle, when prepared using salted cubes, can be stored at room temperature for a few weeks (if you can resist the temptation). However, pickle prepared using fresh first milk cubes has to be stored in the refrigerator.

     3)    If first milk is not available, do not fret but simply substitute the first milk cubes with Paneer (Indian cottage cheese) cubes. Happy? You have excellent Paneer pickle to enjoy!

272) GARLIC PICKLE

GARLIC PICKLE

THE PICKLE OF YOUR DREAMS

Introduction:

I made some superb garlic pickle the other day. My husband who hardly ever cares for garlic, in fact asked for a second helping; so fantastic was the taste. The smell is so inviting, so appetizing, so mouthwatering, that if only technology were so advanced, I would have gladly uploaded the wonderful smell, if not the taste, for you all to enjoy. For the time being, you will have to make do with the recipe.

Though it is a bit time consuming, shelling each clove by hand makes it worth your while when you see the joyous faces of your dear ones who relish the pickle with lip smacking delight. Moreover, the health benefits of garlic are so many and more are being discovered every day. Researchers tell us that garlic lowers cholesterol levels, regulates blood pressure, thins the blood, cleans out clogged arteries, is an excellent organic antibiotic, boosts immunity against the flu and cold, helps digestion and reduces unwanted fat. So go right ahead, cook and enjoy!

Ingredients (to make 500 gm.):

     1)    Garlic cloves, peeled and cleaned – 350 gm.

     2)    Pigeon eye chilies (see note) – 8 Nos.(if unavailable, use hot green chilies)

     3)    Curry leaves – 1 sprig

     4)    Gingelly oil (sesame oil) – 2½ tablespoons

     5)    Mustard seeds – ½ teaspoon

     6)    Fenugreek seeds – ¼ teaspoon

     7)    Hot red chili powder – 2 teaspoons

     8)    Pickle powder – 2 teaspoons

     9)    Turmeric powder – ½ teaspoon

     10)     Powdered salt – 3½ teaspoons

     11)     Vinegar – 75 ml.

To Cook:

          Slit the pigeon eye chilies lengthwise on one side and set aside. Set a wok on high heat. Pour in the gingelly oil and tip in the mustard seeds. As soon as the mustard seeds are about to finish crackling, throw in the fenugreek seeds. Stir gently. As soon as the fenugreek seeds are about to finish popping, turn down the heat and tip in the pigeon eye chilies and the curry leaves. Stir twice or thrice.

Now tip in the garlic cloves and stir frequently for 3 minutes. Now tip in the powdered salt, the chili powder and the turmeric powder. Stir well for another 2 minutes and switch off the heat. Let cool naturally.

When cold, transfer to a clean, sundried, airtight jar (500 to 600 ml capacity). Pour in the vinegar and close the lid tight. Keep undisturbed for at least 3 days. Use a dry spoon to mix up the pickle. Your delicious garlic pickle is now ready to serve. Serve with rice, chappatis, porottas or bread. Garlic lovers will need no excuse to dip in their spoons. Vampires beware!

Bon appétit!!!

Notes:

     1)    Pigeon eye chilies, even though quite hot, have tremendous flavor and medicinal value. In Kerala, many cholesterol patients eat one or two raw pigeon eye chilies with meals. Called kāndāri or parangi in Malayalam, they grow on hardy bushy plants that thrive for 3 to 5 years. These plants do not require any particular care or treatment, but give bumper crops when watered and fertilized with farmyard manure and wood ash. These chilies cost around Rs. 300 to Rs. 600 a kilo, whereas ordinary green chilies cost just Rs. 20 to Rs. 50.

Pigeon eye chilies are also used in tribal folk medicine in the treatment of setting cracked or broken bones. These chilies are ground up together with some other herbs and applied on the skin just before it is bandaged with splints. The tribals believe that these chilies aid in quick and strong bonding of broken bones.

Convalescents with little appetite for food can mix one or two crushed pigeon eye chilies and a sprig of chopped tender curry leaves with a little bit of salt in a glass of buttermilk. They can pour some of this buttermilk over rice while sipping the rest of the buttermilk in between to promote appetite and digestion.

     2)    Some people soak the garlic cloves in oil and then dry them for a day in the sun to facilitate shelling. I do not recommend this shortcut as the drying tends to deprive the garlic of its juicy, crispy freshness, its prāna or life force, which makes the pickle sparkle both on the plate and on the palate.