South Indian Pickle Podi/ Powder

I know, I know, I promised to make a pickle today and show you how easy pickling can be with the North Indian Podi for Pickles that I posted yesterday. 

Its pouring in Chennai.  A huge tropical storm has hit many parts of Tamil Nadu and  left 32people dead, washed out many houses and devastated crops. The whole of Chennai is badly flooded. The last I remember witnessing such heavy rains in Chennai is about three years back when we had to use boats to commute in many parts of the city.  With all this howling wind and heavy rain, I can almost sense the doors of my balcony coming off the walls. There’s lots of water coming into my kitchen through the exhaust – most definitely not a good time for pickling. 

South Indian Pickle Podi is a spice mix that one can prepare and store for furture use while pickling in the south indian style. 

Makes: approx 500 gms of the powder/spice mix used for pickling

Ingredients

• Fenugreek – 1/2 cup
• Mustard Seeds – 1 cup
• Turmeric – 1 tbsp
• Red Chillies – 2 cups (tightly packed)

Ingredients – photograph does not represent actual quantities needed for recipe

Method

1. Microwave fenugreek and red chillies together on high for a minute. Or dry them out in the sun – so they lose any external moisture that may be present. 
2. Grind all ingredients together to a powder.

Store in an air tight container. Keeps well for months. Use whenever you want to pickle anything the South Indian way. 

South Indian Pickle Podi – for the Recipe Marathon

Fellow recipe marathoners:

DK, Siri, Srivalli, Ranji, PJ, Curry Leaf, Medha, Priya, Bhawna, Raaji, Ruchii
Anu, Kamala, Roopa, Divya Kudua, Rekha, Divya M, Raaga, Lakshmi Venkatesh, Sripriya, Viji,  Kamalika,Pavani, Roochi, Karuna

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North Indian Pickle Podi/Powder

We tamilians are podi (powder) freaks. We podi-fy anything and everything for instant gratification and super quick cooking. Sambar podi, Rasam podi, Milagai Podi, Paruppu Podi, Thengai Podi, Karuvapillai Podi, Aingaya Podi, this podi, that podi – podi podi all around. I am not aware of any podi rhyme – but I think with so many podis around we surely must have one .

Because of this whole podi mania, we have at least two versions of any dish – one with freshly ground spices (araitha vittu) and another the regular way with our famous indispensable podis. Amma has decided to take this podi-fying business to the next level. On my recent visit to Bangalore, apart from many other things, she packed for me two containers for near instant pickling – one with a North Indian Pickle Podi that I can use to pickle anything the north indian way and another with a South Indian Pickle Podi that will give me a pickle with a south indian taste. Although there are pickles and more pickles – she choose the two most predominant styles and prepared the spice mixes accordingly.

Makes: approx 500 gms of the powder/spice mix used for pickling

Ingredients

• Red chillies – 2 cups (tightly packed)
• Black Cumin (Mangrail/ Kalonji) – 2 tbsp
• Fenugreek – 4 tbsp
• Jeera (Cumin) – 2 tbsp
• Black Pepper Corns – 2 tbsp
• Amchur – 8 tbsp
• Turmeric – 2 tsp

Ingredients – photograph does not represent actual quantities needed for recipe

Method

1. Microwave all ingredients except turmeric together on high for a minute. Or dry them out in the sun – so they lose any external moisture that may be present.
2. Grind all ingredients together to a powder.

Store in an air tight container. Keeps well for months. Use whenever you want to pickle anything the North Indian way.

I will be preparing a small portion of pickle using this powder tomorrow to illustrate how pickling is super simple and super easy and super rewarding! See even the making of this podi is not going to take you much time.

North Indian Pickle Podi – for the Recipe Marathon

Fellow recipe marathoners:

DK, Siri, Srivalli, Ranji, PJ, Curry Leaf, Medha, Priya, Bhawna, Raaji, Ruchii
Anu, Kamala, Roopa, Divya Kudua, Rekha, Divya M, Raaga, Lakshmi Venkatesh, Sripriya, Viji,  Kamalika,Pavani, Roochi, Karuna

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Gongura Pickle

I am a huge fan of pickles. On any given day, you’ll find me having atleast a small serving of pickle rice for lunch. I love the fiery sour taste of pickle that blends so beautifully with the blandness of plain rice separated and mashed lightly with some sesame oil.  My fridge is usually home to many varieties of pickles – Avakkai, Vegetable Pickle, Tomato Pickle, Gooseberry (Nellikai) Pickle, Shallots Pickle, Gongura – anything works with me except lemon. 

As a child I remember staying over with my aunt at her amma’s place in Hyderabad after she had just delivered my cousin.  I was only 6 at that time, but I remember each meal being a feast with several pachadis and pickles. I reserved the best of my attention to the quintessential Gongura pickle.   

Amma packed a bowlful of Gongura pickle on my recent visit to Bangalore. Gongura is a sour green plant that is commonly used in Andhra Pradesh in many dishes. The taste of Gongura is exquisite – a certain kind of sourness that one cannot explain in words and can only be experienced. Gongura pickle’s lovely flavour comes entirely from the inherent taste of the leaves themselves and not from any kind of spices. There are many ways in which people prepare the Gongura pickle –  by grinding or by chopping the leaves. At home we prefer the latter. The leaves like most greens are a rich source of iron. 

Makes – 1 cup of Gongura Pickle

Ingredients

• Gongura (red stemmed) – 3 cups  
• Turmeric Powder – 1/2 tsp
• Hing (Asafoetida powder) – 1/4 tsp
• Salt – 2 tbsp (adjust to taste)
• Red Chilli Powder – 3 tbsp 
• Olive Oil/ Sesame Oil – 3 tbsp

Method

1. Remove Gongura Leaves from the stem. Wash well and spread on a cloth to dry. Finely chop the Gongura leaves. 
2. Heat Olive Oil and saute Gongura Leaves with turmeric and hing on a low to medium flame, stirring continously until the leaves are well cooked and water content of the leaves is diminished.  After the gongura is thoroughly cooked it will be reduced to about 1/3rd of the original quantity. 
3. Add salt and chilli powder and saute on a low flame for 2-3 minutes. 
4. Transfer to an air tight moisture free container, cool completely and refrigerate. Keeps well for 3 months (if you don’t gobble it up, that is). 

Gongura Pickle – for the Recipe Marathon

Fellow recipe marathoners:

DK, Siri, Srivalli, Ranji, PJ, Curry Leaf, Medha, Priya, Bhawna, Raaji, Ruchii
Anu, Kamala, Roopa, Divya Kudua, Rekha, Divya M, Raaga, Lakshmi Venkatesh, Sripriya, Viji,  Kamalika,Pavani, Roochi, Karuna

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Shallots Pickle

I have never really made pickles by myself – both my amma and mother in law make pickles for us while they are here or package all the way from Bangalore. But we finish these batches of pickles so fast that there are a few  days when there’s not much in the house and if like me you’ve grown up eating pickle rice, food just doesn’t feel the same.  A couple of days back when we ran out of our favourite shallot pickle, I decided to make some on my own. 

The flavour of this pickle comes from the mild sweetness of the shallots, combined with the sourness of tamarind and the fierceness of red chillies.  It smells so gorgeous and tastes so delicious that I have atleast a couple of spoons of rice mixed with this pickle almost everyday. 

Makes: enough to fit in a 750 ml container

Preparation time: 30 minutes, Cooking time: 30 minutes

Ingredients

• Shallots – 3 cups (peeled, washed and patted dry)
• Tamarind – 1 cup 
• Red Chillies – 1 1/2 cups (increase or decrease to taste)
• Turmeric – 1 tsp
• Hing – 1/4 tsp  
• Fenugreek seeds (dry) – 3 tsp 
• Salt – 2 tbsp (adjust to taste) 
• Sesame Oil/ Olive Oil – 6 tbsp

Method

1. Soak the tamarind in hot water for 10 minutes. You will need water just enough to immerse the tamarind. Depending on whether you soak the tamarind in a flat broad vessel or a deeper vessel, you will need about 1/4 to 1/2 cup of water.  
2. On a medium flame, heat 1 tbsp of oil and saute the shallots until they turn pink.  Set aside to cool. 
3. On a medium flame, dry roast the fenugreek seeds, cool for somtime and grind to a fine powder. 
4. Drain the tamarind and reserve the water. 
5. Grind shallots, tamarind, red chillies, salt and turmeric together to a paste of spoonable consistency adding the reserved water as required to aid in grinding. 
6. Heat the remaining oil in a pan. Add the paste and cook uncovered on a low flame stirring frequently in between until the paste is well cooked and loses all its water content. Keep only on a low flame, do not increase flame at all. This should take about 30 minutes or more depending on the water content of your paste. The pickle is cooked when it turns a deeper shade of brown.  Take off flame, add the powdered fenugreek and mix well. 

Refrigerate in a air tight container. Keeps well for several months. 

 

Shallots Pickle – for the Recipe Marathon

Fellow recipe marathoners:

DK, Siri, Srivalli, Ranji, PJ, Curry Leaf, Medha, Priya, Bhawna, Raaji, Ruchii
Anu, Kamala, Roopa, Divya Kudua, Rekha, Divya M, Raaga, Lakshmi Venkatesh, Sripriya, Viji, , Kamalika,Pavani, Roochi, Karuna

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