Pickles from Andhra (ఆంధ్ర ఊరగాయలు)-9

Pickles and Chutneys With Gooseberries-II

This is the season for Gooseberries. These berries are rich in Vitamin C and is extensively used in Indian Natural Medicine System of Ayurveda. Just by eating a fruit daily will improve our eye sight, protect it, blackens hair and keeps our body, eye sight and hair healthy. They can be preserved in the form of pickles or jams or preserves and also eaten fresh in the form of chutney.

My previous recipe on Pickles is here:

http://spiceomylife.blogspot.com/2011/01/pickles-from-andhra-vii.html


1. Gooseberry Pickle (ఉసిరి  నిలువ  పచ్చడి ):

This is one of the most famous pickle of Andhra cuisine. It is good for health and hence eaten first with cooked/steamed rice.

Ingredients:
Gooseberries    1Kg
Turmeric      2-3 Tbsp
Salt  (Granulated sea salt)    75 to 100 gms

Method:

• Wash the berries in plenty of water. Wipe them well with a cloth and spread them on a cotton cloth. Leave them for 2-3 hours (no need to keep in sun) till they are completely free from moisture.
• Slice or chop (can be thick pieces) the berries with a knife and discard the seeds. We use the traditional stone grinder and wooden pestle instead of knife.
• Mix in the turmeric and put them in a ceramic or glass jar. Close the lid tightly and leave for 3 days. These pieces will soften.
• Don't use table or iodised salt. Dry natural granulated sea salt in the sun and powder it. If you can get the powder itself use it. 
• On 4th day remove the berry pieces from the jar, mix in salt and grind to a rough paste. Again store in a glass or ceramic jar. The lid should be fitted tightly and cover it with a piece of cloth to avoid atmospheric moisture.

When you want to use it follow the following procedure.

Ingredients:
Goose berry Paste 1 cup (around 100-150 gms)

Mustard seeds:  1/2 Tbsp

Black Lentils(split and husked) 1Tbsp

Red Chillies (dry)  5-6 (broken to pieces)
Asafoetida 1/4th tsp or 2-3 pinches

Oil             1 Tbsp
Salt to taste

The spice Box

Asfoetida
Method:

• Heat oil in a small pan to a smoking point.
• Lower the heat to the minimum
• Add Black lentils and mustard seeds after a minute add red chillies and asafoetida. When the mustard start spluttering remove and cool.
• Grind this to a paste
• Add the gooseberry paste and salt and grind a few seconds to mix it well.
• it is served with hot steamed rice, slit green chillies and onion slices.

Note: 

1. This keeps for a week or two. 
2. Usually both dried red chillies and green chillies  are used for spicy taste. Some fry the green chillies along with mustard seeds, red chillies etc before grinding. This is not only tasty but also reduces the spiciness of the chillies. Coriander greens are also added before grinding all the ingredients. But this pickle will keep only for 2-3 days because of the green chillies and coriander greens. I prefer this method and make it in small quantities at a time.
3. A little bit of jaggery can be added to blend all the tastes.
4. Grinding the ingredients in traditional stone mortar  and wooden pestle gives the pickle a taste which is different from that in the food processor. 

Watch out for more.......

Colourful Plates

I always make it a point to spend some time browsing or window shopping some of the stalls in exhibitions or sales. Many a time I could pick up some unique pieces of crockery or other such items. A recent addition to my kitchen are colourful ceramic plates for serving:

This is like Chinese Cabbage. I loved this. This is from China.

I loved the above two plates with their shaded colours. They will definitely add colour to any setting. What do you say?

Keep watching for some yummy recipes.....

Jujube Crispies

In my last post, I told you that this is the season (winter) for the Jujube fruits also known as Indian Dates. They are rich in Vitamin C and many other minerals. Because they are sour in taste, they also reduce nausea.

These are preserved in the form of crispies and pickles, so that we can enjoy them off season too. Here is the recipe for crispies. These are known as Regi Vadiyaalu in Telugu or Ber ke Badiya in Hindi. Though the recipe is simple, the process of cleaning and preparing the fruit is a bit tedious. But the end product is really yummy.

Ingredients:

Jujube Fruits       1 Kg

Salt                  50 to 75 Gms

Green Chillies      50 Gms

Cumin Seeds       2 Tbsps

Jujube and Green Chillies

Cumin

Stone Grinder and Wooden Pestle

Method:

• Put these fruit in a big tub of water, wash very gently but thoroughly by rubbing them between hands. Care should be taken to see that the fruits don't break open. Some of the fruits are very soft and easily break open.
• Drain them thoroughly and leave them well spread out on a cotton cloth in the shade for 2-3 hrs so that excess water is absorbed or dries away. We use old cotton saris, dhotis or bed sheets for this purpose.
• Check each of the fruit carefully for these fruits have worms inside. Each fruit scan be pinched open with fingers or use knife and examine for worms. Discard the infested ones.
• Now grind the cumin seeds to a coarse powder. 
• Grind the green chillies or red chillies to a paste.

Green Chilly Paste

• Now comes the tricky part. We have to grind the fruits carefully without breaking the seeds inside.
• One way is to squeeze the fruits with your fingers/hand to bring out the pulp. This is OK with most of the fruits as they are soft and very easily break open. But some are firm. Such fruits should be separated and use a knife to slice them with out breaking the seed.
• Some people discard the seeds. But that way most of the flesh is lost as it is attached to these seeds. 
• I use the traditional  stone grinder along with a wooden pestle. Here it is very easy to grind the fruit with out breaking the seed, by controlling the pressure or force and also angling the strike of the pestle used for pounding. One need not grind much as it is enough if the skins of the fruit separate and the flesh comes out.

Grounded Jujubes

• Now take this fruit into a bowl. add green chilly paste, salt and cumin powder. Mix well. Check and adjust the salt and chilly.

Jujube Mixture

• Spread a thick polythene sheet or a cotton sheet and make small round patties on to the sheet taking lemon sized portions. Let them dry in the hot sun for a day or two and reverse them and dry them for another day or two until they are completely dry. 

Jujube Crispies -Sun Dried

• Store them in air tight container.
• One or two can be eaten as a snack. Children will love this as this is sweet, sour and hot at the same time. this is good for health and reduces nausea. But one should not eat too many at a time.

NOTE: 

1. The quantity of salt depends on how sour the fruits are. So add a little at a time and taste it. Don't add all the quantity at a time.
2. The quantity of green chillies also depends upon the sourness of the fruit. this should also be added a little at a time and then decided.
3. Some add dried red chillies instead of green ones. If that is the case, soak them in enough water and make a paste and adjust the quantity according to your taste.
4. I prefer the green ones as they taste better

Hope you like them......