Mango-Ginger Pickle- Variation 2

A very simple and a quickie recipe to the pickled version of mango-ginger I had posted yesterday for blog hop. The below is usually the way we like to eat mango-ginger at home. It is very simple and quick and can be made in fresh batches just before meal time.

Ingredients:

- 1 cup finely chopped mango-ginger
- 2 green chillies finely chopped
- 2 tsp lemon juice
- 1 tsp oil
- 1 tsp mustard seeds
- Salt to taste

Prep time: 15 mins

Preparation:

- Peel and chop the mango-ginger into fine pieces. Chop the green chillies and add them to the mango-ginger.

- Add the salt and lemon juice and mix them all in a bowl.
- Temper the mustard seeds in oil and them on to the bowl. Give everything a fine mix.

- Mango-Ginger pickle is ready to serve!

Sending the recipe to Show & Tell Vatsala's Potluck Party 

Mango-Ginger Pickle- Variation 1- Blog Hop

Blog hop truly inspires me to stay in touch with my blog posts and my blogger friends posts for sure! Radhilka is being too nice to the blog hoppers by sending reminders...:-) If not for them, am sure I would skip them...thanks a ton Radhika for the great work you are doing with the Blog hop concept.

This week, I had to hop in around the blog Tamalapaku of Harini. As I have been following her blog for quite sometime, I was kind of familiar with her recipes. I had been wanting to try one of her pickles since a long time! More so, I had been waiting to buy Mango-Ginger from the market as it is in full season now. So, I aeroed in on this pickle and brought home fresh Mango-Ginger this morning:-) 

Mango-Ginger is an awesome root which is a part of the ginger family and has a raw mango taste to it. When you cut the root you will notice there are 2 layers within the root...one with ginger flavour and the other with mango flavour. Smells so fresh and tastes so great....a must try if you can find it anywhere near you live!

I usually make a very simple and low spice version of mango-ginger. However, I noticed a different style in Harini's blog and wanted to try it. Off to the recipe while they are still soaking in the bowl over night...

Ingredients:

- 2 cups finely chopped mango-ginger

- 1 tbsp mustard powder

- 1 tbsp gingely(sesame) oil

- 2 tsp chilly powder

- 2 tsp lemon juice

- 1/4 tsp turmeric powder

- 1/4 tsp methi(fenugreek) powder

- 1/8 tsp hing (asafoetida) for tempering

- 1/4 tsp mustard for tempering

-  Salt to taste

Prep time: 15 mins             Soak time: 7 to 8 hours

Source: Tamalapaku

Preparation:

- Peel the skin off the mango-ginger, wash and chop them finely.

- Add the salt, lemon juice and turmeric powder and mix in well.

- Add the mustard, methi and chilly powder and give it another mix.

- In a pan, heat the oil and splutter the mustard. Switch off the heat and add the hing to the oil.

- Pour the oil over the mango-ginger and mix in well so that the oil coats all over.

- Keep it over night or for 7 to 8 hours so that the flavours are well absorbed!

- Can be had as a side with dosa, chapathi or any of your favourite rice or upma.

Foot note:

- I used freshly ground mustard and methi seeds powder. This gives a great taste and fragrance to the pickle.

- Add hing after switching off the flame. Adding hing in too much heat, makes the dish taste bitter.

- The original recipe says to mix in the tempered oil after cooling. However, I added it while it is still hot, as it helps to remove the raw smell of chilly powder and turmeric.

Sending the recipe to Blog Hop Wednesday hosted by Radhika of Tickling Palates

Quick Mango pickle - Vendhaya Mangai

This quick raw mango pickle is called "Vendhaya maangai" (வெந்தய மாங்காய்) in Tamil. It is a quick to make pickle and a very tasty one. This pickle can be used immediately on making and tastes best for 2 or 3 days only! Thats quite surprising for a pickle ...I know! Pickles are supposed to taste best well into a week of making them but this one is different! It tastes best when it is till fresh and crispy:-)

 During summer, when mangoes are abundant in the market, this will be almost an everyday item on the table. It vanishes into thin air, the moment it is made...tastes great with dhal, sambhar or curd rice!

Ingredients:

- 1 sour raw mango

- 3/4 tsp chilly powder

- 1/2 tsp methi powder (வெந்தயம்)

- 1/4 tsp hing (asafoetida)

- 1/8 tsp turmeric powder

- 1 tbsp sesame oil

- mustard for seasoning

- salt to taste

Prep time: 10-15 mins                Cook time: NIL

Preparation:

- Slice the mango into small, thin pieces

- Add the chilly powder, methi powder, hing, turmeric and salt on top

- In a small pan, heat the oil and let the mustard crackle.
- Pour the oil with the mustard on top of the spices and cut mango and mix them all together.

- Tasty pickle is ready to serve.

- Store the remaining in fridge and use over the next couple of days.

Inji Thokku (Ginger Pickle)

One more simple pickle from my Great Grandma's recipe list! I hope you enjoy making this super simple and super quick இஞ்சி தொக்கு or Ginger Pickle. It is a very good accompaniment for curd rice or ஊத்தப்பம் (Uthappam)

Ingredients

Ingredients:

- 1 cup finely chopped ginger 

- 7 or 8 green chillies (less or more based on your spice level preference)

- Medium gooseberry sized tamarind

- Crushed Jaggery - double the amount of tamarind

- 4 tsp Sesame oil

- Salt to taste

- 1/4 tsp mustard for seasoning

Prep time: 5 mins    Cook time: 15 mins

Preparation:

- Peel the skin of ginger and chop it finely.

- Wash and chop the green chillies finely.

- In a pan, heat 1 tsp oil and add the ginger and chillies and fry till the raw smell goes.

- After 3 mins add the tamarind and jaggery and fry for a further 2 mins till they soften up.

After frying in the pan

- On cooling, grind the above in a blender with salt and little water if needed.

After grinding in blender

- In a pan heat the remaining oil, add mustard seeds and allow to splutter.

- Once mustard splutters, add the ground ginger chilly mix.

- Let this fry up for 4-5 mins on low heat. The paste will turn into a reddish brown color as you see in the pic below.

- Tasty ginger pickle is ready to be served.

Finale...The Ginger Pickle

Foot note: This pickle can be refrigerated and used.

Zero Oil Lemon Pickle...Yumm

Believe it or not...this one is from my Great Grandma! I have lived with her all my life until I finished college...She was an epitome of briskness and agility and lived a completely healthy life till her last breath at the age of 97! She never wore specs, had no BP, diabetes, hearing loss for her age...and to top it all...She never knew how to walk with a slipper! Till the end she walked bare foot anywhere and at anytime of the day or night! I can jus go on and on about her but now let me take the previlege of passing on to you all one of her tasty lemon pickles. I have had the fortune to eat so many of her recipes.....and I hope you all enjoy this pickle as much as I have done in all my life...

Thanks Amma and Vidya for being so enthu to make the pickle and send me the pics too for posting in my blog!

Prepared in India with Indian Lemons:-)

Ingredients:

- 8 medium sized lemons ( preferably thin skinned)

- 12 green chillies (vary by preference)
- 1 tbsp salt ( vary by preference)
- 1/2 tsp turmeric

- 1/2 tsp hing, if solid - 1 cm piece

Prep time: 2 days

Preparation:

- Cut each lemon into 12-16 pieces.

- Add salt, turmeric powder, hing and soak for 48 hours. Mix it twice a day.

- After the lemons are soaked for 2 days, slit the green chillies and grind them into a coarse paste.

- At the end, add the lemon into the mixie and grind for 5 seconds at slow speed.
- Zero oil lemon pickle is ready to be eaten with your favourite 'thayir saadam'.

The US version:-)

Foot Note:
- If your lemon is thick skin variety, soak it for 3 days.
- Also, while grinding, you would need to give the lemon an extra whip. I had to grind it twice for 10 seconds each :-)

Gongura Pachadi ( Pulicha Keerai)

Gongura, also called pulicha keerai in TN, is one of the most popular leaf vegetable of our neighboring state AP. Though this is available in abundance in Chennai markets, I have never seen or heard of tamilians give this a try, atleast in the circles i know?! However, we would always long to eat it and visit all the andhra bhavans for some pappu podi and gongura lunch....ooohhh, what a taste! Infact, only recently i realised that gongura and pulicha keerai are one and the same! Well, I hope they are..:-)!

While we had been to meet a friend in Long Island a month back, I chanced upon this flavourful leaves in the Indian grocery store there and picked it up instantly. Referred to so many sites and spoke to two of my telegu friends in my apt and finally customised the recipe to suit my taste buds! It came out so good and I still have it stocked in my fridge, perfectly fine and tasty...

Ingredients:

- a bunch of gongura about 500 gms

- 2 tbsp coriander seeds

- 1/2 tsp methi seeds

- 8 to 10 dry red chillies ( add more for extra spice)

- 1/2 medium onion finely chopped

- 6 cloves garlic finely chopped

- Salt to taste

- 4 tbsp sesame oil/olive oil

For seasoning:

- 1 sprig fresh curry leaves

- 1/2 tsp mustard seeds

- 1/2 tsp urad dhal

- 1/2 tsp channa dhal

Prep time: Overnight Cook time: 30 mins

Preparation:

- Peal the gongura leaves off its stem and wash them a couple of times.

- Spread the leaves over on a big cloth and let them dry overnight.

- The gongura is ready to be cooked the next day morning.

- In a pan, heat 1 tbsp of oil and add the leaves and fry them till they change colour and lose all the moisture. The above process helps to improve the shelf life of the pachadi/pickle

- Remove the leaves from pan and keep aside for cooling.

- In the same pan, add 1 tsp of oil and fry the coriander seeds, red chillies and finally add the methi seeds.

- On cooling grind the coriander, chilli, salt and methi seeds coarsely without adding water. Later, add the gongura leaves to the same and grind into a coarse paste.

- In the pan, heat the remaining oil. Add the ingredients under seasoning once oil is heated.

- As the mustard starts to splutter, add theonions and garlic and fry them until they turn translucent.

- To this add the gongura paste and fry for 3 mins.

Tasty gongura is ready to be served with rice, dosa or idli! This can be refrigerated for 4-6 weeks!

Kothamali Thokku ( Coriander Side dish)

Kothamali ( Coriander) is a herb that can be used in so many different ways and for such a wide variety of dishes! Its got its own versatility in transforming its flavour in garnishing a Continental dish or a down South Indian breakfast delicacy....With claps to Coriander let me list below the steps in making this easy dish which can be stored up in your refrigerators for over 2-3 weeks and used readily for dosa, idly or even as a pickle for the yummy curd rice!

Prep time: 10 minutes Cooking time: 5 mins

Ingredients:

1 bunch of fresh Coriander leaves

2 medium red chillies

2 tbsp Urad dhal

1/2 inch piece of tamarind

A pinch of Asafoetida (hing)

1 tbsp Sesame oil

1 tsp cooking oil

Salt to taste

Preparation:

Step 1:

- Rinse and drain the coriander leaves and set aside

- In a pan add a tsp of cooking oil and roast the urad dhal and tamarind. Towards the end add the hing and the red chillies.

- Cool for while and grind the roasted ingredients with the coriander leaves. Add Salt to taste.

- Do not add too much water while grinding. Let it be a thick paste and also a little coarse.

Step 2:

- In a pan, add 1 tbsp of sesame oil. Once oil is hot, add little mustard and split urad dhal and let it splutter.

- To this add the ground coriander paste as in Step 1 above and keep stirring with a laddle on medium heat for 4-5 mins .

- Remove from stove and let it cool.

Upon cooling, you can store it in an air tight container and leave it in fridge for about 2-3 weeks.

This can be used as a ready side dish for dosa or idli. While eating, drizzle a little sesame oil to this chutney for added taste and flavour.