Tales of pickles…

I've arrived. Yes, with this pickle! :-D

 

Am not a pickle person. Not at all. Its strange considering I grew up in Andhra, the pickle and red-chilli-capital of India. Its stranger considering I spent my entire childhood in Kurnool in Rayalaseema, a region considered to eat the spiciest of pickles. Yes, Guntur produces the hottest of chillies but all of it is consumed by the simple folk of Rayalaseema, I bet.

Pickles made in Andhra are hot, and use oil, lots of it as a preservative. Mangalorean pickles do not use oil at all, and use just the salt as the preservative. I am yet to understand how they stay so good for years without an external preservative, but I bet that's because of the meticulous care that goes into making these pickles, which is also why I never even attempted to make any of them.

But then, why should I? :) I don't eat pickles, I don't even like them and all the ones that the husband likes are taken care of by Mom and Mom-in-law. But then, a times comes in every housewife's life when she wants to prove to herself that she has it in her to make a pickle, a lasting one, not an instant one which should be refrigerated to make it last. It requires tons of patience, a lot of planning in accumulating the ingredients, and a lot of meticulous detail in ensuring that not even a whiff of water touches any of the equipment and the ingredients. I think, that time has come for me. And that's why I feel like I've arrived.

Cauliflower pickle is not a traditional pickle that is made in either Telugu or Tulu households. This one is my Mom's recipe, something she improvised on after making the traditional pickles. And I also think this came out of her desperate attempt to ensure that we eat a vegetable, in whatever form it is. Yeah, I've been that kid who would throw up at the thought of a vegetable in her food. How it is that I've got this strong immune system with just Rasam, curd rice and fruits, am yet to figure out, but the credit , as always goes to Mom for building it all up. :)

Back to the pickle... this method of preparation can be used to almost any vegetable you like. Cauliflowers and Bitter gourds are the first to come to my mind, but I guess you could experiment with whatever you want to. Also, Methi is added for extra flavor, something that I love.

A lot of care has to be taken into making this pickle to ensure that it lasts outside the fridge, but if you are doubtful, you could always store it in there. I haven't ever seen Mom's pickle go bad but I guess It lasts for up to a month either ways.

Wash the vegetable, clean it and blanch it after which you can let it cool-dry. I washed mine and left them on a dry piece of cloth on the kitchen overnight. The quantities of the ingredients I used here are indicative only. However, use a similar ratio of Chilli powder, mustard powder and salt. It helps in keeping the spice level in the pickle optimum.

Lemon juice acts as a preservative for this pickle, and vinegar should be used as less as possible. The idea is for the pickle to get its tart taste from the lemon juice and not a chemical. The chemical is just an added precaution to preserve the pickle.
Also, this pickle takes time to set. I mixed all the ingredients, including half the quantity of the lemon juice and kept this aside in a porcelain jar. I waited for 3 days to see if this would leave out any liquid either from the vegetable or otherwise, from the ingredients. I kept this in a cool dark place in my kitchen, but you could refrigerate this if you are doubtful it wont stay good.

Guess I had taken good care in ensuring that there wasn't any moisture in the florets or any of my equipment, mine stayed good outside the refrigerator. Mine didn't leave out any liquid, and so I had to use the rest of the lemon juice to get this pickle to the desired consistency. You can decide to not wait for the liquids to come out, and add all the lemon juice at the same time too, but there is a risk of the pickle being very runny.

Cauliflower pickle
Level - Medium

Ingredients
Cauliflower florets - 2.5 C
Chilli powder - 1 C
Mustard powder - 3/4 C
Salt - 3/4 C
Methi(Fenugreek) seeds - 1/4 C
Hing (Asafoetida) - 1 Tbsp
Lemon juice - Juice of 10 lemons, or more depending on the consistency
Vinegar(Acetic acid) - 1/2 C [Use only as much required]

Cooking oil - 2-3 Tbsp
Hing - 1 Tsp
Mustard seeds - 1 Tsp

Instructions
Clean the cauliflower florets, blanch them and dry them in shade. Try to ensure that there is no moisture in these florets when you use them in the pickle.

Mix the chilli and mustard powders together. Add salt to this.

Dry roast the Methi seeds along with the asafoetida. When the Methi seeds turn brown, take them off heat and grind them once they are cooled. Mix this powder to the chilli powder mix.

Now mix the dried florets to this mixture. Mix in the required quantity of lemon juice and vinegar.
Let this mixture stay in a porcelain or glass jar for at least 3 days. You can refrigerate this, if you feel the need to do so.

After 3 days, add more lemon juice if required.

Prepare the tempering by heating the oil, and add the mustard seeds to this. Once the seeds splutter, take the oil off the stove and add the asafoetida. Let this cool and mix in with the pickle.

The pickle is now ready to be eaten. Pair this with hot rice and ghee or curd rice, or with Idli and Dosa.