GREEN CHILLI PICKLE

Aachar is an ethnic part of cuisine. From Kashmir to Tamil Nadu and from Gujrat to Assam people make variety of Aachars and is served along with the main course.  Aachar is usually made with spices that not only stimulate our taste buds but also help in better digestion of food. Indian meals are generally served with a variety of condiments, of which pickles are the most common. Or you can serve it as a complimentary dish with any parantha.  Winter season is the best season to spice up your paranthas with any of your favourite aachar. Green Chilli Pickle is a delightful way to spice up any meal. Green chillies are used to make different variety of pickles and stir fries, there are numerous versions of making this depends upon individual and region taste.  I am not a big fan of pickles but I love nimbu ka sweet and spicy aachar made by my mom. But I have recently got hooked to this chilli pickle and so prepared it. Now a days I love making different types of pickles.

Before few days one of my fb friend, Pooja shared a post of some parantha with chilli pickle. The pickle looks so appealing that I couldn’t stop myself to ask her for recipe. So here is the recipe I am sharing which basically given by Pooja only. Here I used the big chillies for my recipe which are with a semi thick, smooth, glossy skin and are deep lime green in colour. Inside these chillies there is a thin white membrane with trace amount of seeds. To make this stuffed green chilli pickle I have used dry spices in which the flavour of fennel seeds are prominent.

INGREDIENTS:

100 gms Green Chillies [see notes]

100 ml Mustard Oil/ Sarso ka tel

3 tablespoon Fennel Seeds/ Saunf

1 tablespoon Cumin Seeds / Jeera

1 tablespoon Carom Seeds/Ajwain

2 tablespoon Mustard Seeds / Mohari/ Rai

1 tablespoon Methi / fenugreek Seeds

1 tablespoon Turmeric Powder / Haldi Powder

1 ½ tablespoon Aamchur Powder

2 tablespoon Red Chilli Powder

3 tablespoon Salt

2-3 Caps Vinegar [see notes]

METHOD:

STEP 1 – Wash the whole chillies and then spread them on a kitchen towel to dry them fully. [see notes] The chillies must be absolutely water free.

STEP 2 – Take a small mixer jar and dry grind methi seeds in mixer roughly.

STEP 3 – To this add fennel seeds, cumin seeds, carom seeds and mustard seeds in it and grind it together to make a coarse powder. Don’t add any water for grinding.

STEP 4 – Remove it in a mixing bowl and add turmeric powder, red chilli powder and salt in it. Mix well and 

 keep the powder mixture aside.

STEP 3 – Now using a sharp knife, slit the chillies vertically [see notes] and keep them aside.

STEP 4 – Heat mustard oil till it comes to its boiling point or till it smokes. Switch of the flame and keep it aside to cool.

STEP 5 – When it is still warm add it to the spice mixture

and mix well.

STEP 6 – Add in aamchur powder and give a nice stir so that all the spices get combined very well.

STEP 7 – Stuff  the mixture in each chilli one by one

and keep them in a plate.

STEP 8 – When done with all the chillies put them in a clean glass jar

and pour the left over masala on it. [see notes]

Add vinegar in it.

STEP 9 – Cover it with the lid, shake it once and keep the jar at a clean and dry place.

After 2-3 days pickle is ready to eat, serve it with parantha, roti or you can enjoy it with your meal as a supplement.

NOTES: *Here we need the thick chillies for our recipe which are used to make stuffed chillies and not the regular chillies.

              *You can remove the seeds from the chillies.

              *Vinegar is used as a preservative here. Aamchur powder is added to bring the sour effect.

              *Use a clean and dry jar always. Pickles don’t like moisture so be careful.

              *If needed, add more ¼  cup mustard oil to your pickle which helps it to preserve for a longer period. You have to heat the oil the same way we have heated up and then let it cool and when it is warm add it to the jar.