no oil pickle

Ambate /Hog Plum pickle :

December 20, 2021

We call Hog plum “Amtekai” in Kannada and “ambate” in our local language. In our region, you will find two varieties of hog plums. One is Wild variety, also known as Indian sour hog plum, and the other is grafted or Kashi Amtekai/ hog plum. Grafted variety is nothing but Hog plums which we usually find in South America or Southeast Asia. Also known as Ambarella or Golden apple, which belongs to Spondias Dulcis.

The wild variety, Spondias pinnata, is commonly known as Amtekai/ Amra/Amda/Hog Plum/Junglee Aam in India. Because of its sour taste, it is usually used in pickle making or as a souring agent in some traditional curries. When it matures, a seed becomes woody, and skin becomes thin.

After a long time, I found these beauties in the Mangalore store, which I frequently visited. A lot of preparation goes behind the making of a pickle. I observed that the recipe flowed down from generation to generation. A spoonful of this pickle, which is spicy and tangy, is enough to perk up a bland meal, or as a south Indian, it is a divine combo with thick curd rice.

Ingredients:

Hog plum – 500 gms

Salt – 2 cups

Water – 2 cups

For the pickle Masala:

Dried Red chillies – 100 grams ( I have taken ½ of Byadagi and ½ of Guntur to balance the heat)

Mustard – 25 grams

Methi – 1 tbl spoon

Hing – ½ tsp

Turmeric – 2 tsp

Method:

-Wash, drain the hog plums. Put it under the sunlight for 2 hours.

-Now, crush and separate the skin from the inner hard seed. Keeping under the sun would help loosen up the skin from the core.

-Now, prepare saltwater. Take 2 cups of salt, 2 cups of water and boil nicely.

-Switch off the gas, add the hog plum pieces, inner core and leave it to cool. In this way, hog plum would soften quick and absorb the salt properly.

To make Pickle Masala:

-Dry Roast Methi seeds until dark brown, then mustard seeds until it pops, then hing, turmeric.

-Put 1 tsp of oil and roast chillies until it puffs and becomes crisp. Cool everything and make powder.

-Add this powder to a cooled hogplum added salt solution, and mix properly. Store it in a dry glass bottle, leave it aside for a couple of days to mature and absorb all the flavours.

-Then, store it in a refrigerator to extend its shelf life. When it is ready, enjoy it with curd rice.

Mango pickle (Midi Uppinakai Masala)

March 14, 2021

Mangalore is known for tender mango pickle, locally known as “Midi uppinakai.” Unlike other pickles, it is made up of hardly any ingredient. It needs Dried chillies, mustard, turmeric and hing as an optional. The proportion of the chillies and mustard varies from family to family, hence the pickle’s taste.

The procedure is straightforward. First, after selecting a fresh, tender mango, the cleaning process happens, wiping, drying.

Then comes the pickling part; take a fist full of tender mango spread it at the bottom of the container, usually ceramic Bharani or glass jar. Then, a fist full of crystal salt. Repeat the process until mango reaches the brim of the bottle.

Mango shrinks within a couple of days, and the colour turns green to pale green. Now, it is time to make a pickle masala and finish the process. Isn’t it simple and straight forward 😀 It is one of the must condiments in our family. The recipe which I follow is handed down to me by my mother in law and stamped by my dear husband 😀

My father in law was very particular about the chilli usage, which he used to source after checking the freshness. The variety of chilli he used to prefer is called Harekala Menasu, a native variety of Mangalruru and cultivated in Harekala and nearby villages along the river Netravati. Chillies are spicy, fiery red when it is grounded, and smooth in texture.

As a city dweller, sourcing a tender mango within a short seasonal period becomes very difficult for me. Hence, I use the same masala and prepare cut mango pickle using freshly bought wild mangoes from my native. Instead of Harekala chillies, I opted for half Kashmiri chillies and half Byadagi variety. Hence, it worked out best for me.

Ingredients:

Wild Mangoes – 15 (medium size)

Red chillies – 100 grams ( I have used 50 grams of Kashmiri chillies and 50 grams of Byadagi)

Mustard – 50 grams

Hing – small peanut size.

Turmeric – 1 to 2 tsp

Sea Salt – 1 cup(crystal)

Method:

-Wash mangoes, wipe them, cut them into pieces.

-Take a porcelain jar or glass bottle, put a fistful of mango pieces at the base, sprinkle one tablespoon of salt.

-Again, put a layer of mango, then salt. Continue until mango pieces are over. Close the lid and keep it aside.

-Next day, mix everything and press a little and keep it until the skin becomes a little pale and wilted.

-When skin becomes pale, strain all the salted water, drain the content and collect the water.

-Now, it is time to prepare salted water. This flavourful drained water adds a little more salt and extra water to make boiled salted water. Boil nicely, remove skum, which appears at the top, strain the salty water, and cool it.

-Next comes the Pickle masala part: I usually prefer my wet grinder to make masala.

At first, Put mustard, red chillies and give a pulse in the mixer jar. When chillies and mustard become chunks, it is effortless to proceed in a wet grinder.

Put churned chillies, mustard, turmeric, hing and salted (cooled) water little by little and make a thick masala paste. When it is smooth and finely ground, remove the masala.

Add the required quantity of masala to wilted mango, adjust the consistency by adding salted water. Store it in a dry porcelain jar or bottle.

-If any extra masala or salted water is remaining, store it in a glass bottle. It can be handy to adjust the pickle after 2 or 3 days if needed. Or you can use the masala to make any instant pickle.

-After one week, you can start to use it, and this pickle stays good for a year or more. If the procedure handled well, you could keep it under room temperature, or you can keep it under refrigeration as well.

Lemon pickle:

December 29, 2020

Pickle is an essential part of our Indian meal and we South Indians enjoy our pickle with curd rice as the last leg of our meal, which will tickle and will remain for some time in our taste bud with its right amount of salt, spice, sour, tangy and tartness.

This particular pickle is the non-oily, south Indian style, which I learnt from my mom. This pickle has lemon, green chillies and ginger and goes very well with curd rice.

Ingredients:

Lemons – 15

Ginger – 50 Gms

Green chillies – 5

Salt – ¾ cup

Water – 1 ½ to 2 cups.

Masala:

Dried red chillies – 28 -30

Mustard – 2 Table spoons

Hing – peanut size

Fenugreek – 1 tsp

Cumin – 1 tsp

Turmeric powder – 1 tsp

Oil- 1 to 1 ½ tsp

Method:

-Wash lemon, ginger and green chillies. Pat dry and chop however you like it.

-Boil water and salt together.

-When it is ready, you could see the glossy, shiny layer at the top.

-Drop all the chopped items to this. Boil till lemon rind becomes pale. Switch off and keep this for cooling.

-Gradually while cooling, the lemon rind will wilts and rind will fold backwards, don’t worry. It would become normal once it sets/marinates properly.

-Next, we will prepare the pickle masala.

-Dry roast mustard until it pops, remove and keep aside.

-Take one teaspoon of oil, roast fenugreek, cumin, hing one by one and keep it aside.

-Lastly, fry red chillies until it forms crisp with very little oil.

-Cool everything, make powder all these by adding turmeric.

-When salted lemon cools down, add this masala, mix and store this in an airtight bottle.

-After ten days, you can use this.

-I suggest storing this in a fridge so that its shelf life will be one year or more.

NOTE:

– If you want a little thicker consistency to take one and a half cup of water. If you wish to get, a thin consistency takes 2 cups of water.

-Here I have taken 2 cups of water.

Raw Mango Pickle ( No oil version)

July 9, 2020

Mango pickle, who does not like it?! It is a perfect accompaniment to any Indian meal. As a south Indian, I need to have one piece of pickle with curd rice to end each meal of mine. 😉

Due to lockdown, I was thinking of not indulging in pickle making. But, around two weeks back, when I happen to see huge Mangoes which are specifically meant for the pickle, I could not resist. Picked up only one, which itself was weighing one kilogram. It is our coastal recipe, which does not need loads of oil nor any added preservative . It has freshly ground masala and if you wish, added seasoning to enhance the taste and known as Adangai.

Now we would see the procedure-

Ingredients:

1 big mango – weighed 900 grams

Salt – 1 glass tumbler ( 150 ml)

Hing – ½ tsp (solid hing) If it is powder add little more.

For pickle masala:

Fenugreek seeds – 1 tsp

Mustard – 2 tbl spoons

Cumin – 1 ½ tsp

Byadagi red chillies – 20 – 25 (acc to taste)

Black pepper corns – 10

Method:

-Dry roast crystal salt and remove all the moisture. Cool.

-Wash mango, dry it out, chop into small chunks.

-Take one glass bowl or stainless-steel bowl, add roasted and cooled salt, mango pieces, hing. Mix everything, close and keep aside for 12 to 24 hours.

-Next day, dry roast methi until it is brown. Next, mustard until it splutters. Next roast red chillies, by adding 1 tsp of coconut oil until crisp. Add pepper and roast for 2 minutes.

-Cool all these, make a powder. After that, collect the water, oozed out from the mango. Add into mixer jar and grind further to make a fine paste.

-Add the paste, marinated mango and mix together. Store it in a clean , dry glass bottle.

-If you want the seasoning – you can heat 2 tsp of coconut oil, splutter mustard, add hing and pour it over the ready pickle.

-Rest the pickle for at least ten days to absorb all the masalas , while doing so, in between give a stir by using dry spoon once in two days. It would fasten the marination process and pickle would turn out best by absorbing all the masalas.