Storing Pickles
This hot summer is time for pickles- the King of all Pickles, that is, Mango Pickles known as Avakaaya. Of course the pickle made from Gongura(a kind of sour leaf) is the Queen and nothing beats it No function, or feast is complete in our India especially our Telugu States with out the pickles. Of all the pickles, mango pickles are the most popular ones.
For us Telugu people making pickles from Mangoes or red chilies or raw tamarind or Gongura is nothing less than a sacred ritual or doing meditation. It is done with lot of care.
Every family has its own secret recipe, ingredients and its own traditions connected with pickling. The grand mothers take care to see that these are followed every year and are handed down to the next generations.
The ladies have to take bath, wear clean clothes, clean the kitchen or the area of operation, tools and ingredients to be used thoroughly. Pickles are also stored with great care in big ceramic or glass jars covered with clean cloths. Once in a week or fortnight, required portion is taken out for daily use in smaller containers.
I still remember my granny making huge amounts of pickles storing them filled in very big ceramic jars in the pantry and touching them only after a bath. No one else is allowed to touch them.
All this because one careless mistake will spoil the pickles which other wise can be stored for an year and many years if need be.
I have already talked about the proper storing of pickles in my introduction to pickles in my previous posts.
No matter how many containers, jars or bowls we have, we women are always looking out for the latest ones so that our tables look great while dinning. Here I am going to show you the latest storage containers meant for our table.
It is pickle caddy with two glass bowls.
As you can see there is a plastic caddy which can be opened when needed and closed tight after stacking the bowls one upon another. The glass bowls (thank God for that!) have plastic lids (which I don't like much as it is meant for pickles). One more thing is it is available in only one colour.
It is easy to carry to table, very handy and easy for storing. Stacking up of bowls one upon another also saves space.
What is good is the price. It is very affordable. All in all I felt it was a good buy.
Apart from pickles we can serve chutneys, dips or even sauces or crispies in them.
So do you want to have one too?
