A chilly pickle to turn you green with J

I visited Alpana at her Campbell house in Aug '11, we met after over eight years. I had a good time playing with her new born son and Alpana escorting me at all the malls helping me shop.

On one of the mornings I was munching breakfast at her sunlit kitchen, looking around and feeling good about life. I happened to look at a huge jar of green chilly pickle placed in the sun at her backyard. With one jump I was all over the bottle, taking generous helpings of chilly pickle on my b'fast plate.

Yes, I did get the recipe out from her mother in law after a bit of coaxing . Later on when I was back in Bangalore I modified it as per the Bengali taste bud. 

You will need the following

·         Green Chilly deseeded

·         Black Mustard Seeds

·         Yellow Mustard seed

·         Mustard Oil

·         Turmeric Powder

·         Ajwain ( Caraway seeds)

·         Black Jeera ( Nigella Seeds)

·         Garam Masala Powder

·         Coriander Powder

·         Amchur or lemon or white Vinegar

·         Sugar

·         Salt

Soak the black and yellow mustard seed for 4 hours and make a fine paste in a grinder. There is no need to add water to it. 

The Green Chilly should be washed and sun dried for a day. Put the chilly in a grinder and make a coarse paste out of it.

In a container mix the Chilly paste with mustard paste, Turmeric, Coriander powder, Amchur Powder or Lemon juice, Ajwain and Nigella, Garam masala, sugar and salt as per taste.

Transfer the mixture into a glass container and add mustard oil into the bottle till the level of the oil is 1 cm above the level of the chilly. You can also add in a pinch of roasted fenugreek seed powder for added flavor.

Place the bottle in sun for 5 to 10 days for the pickle to slow cook and will be ready for consumption. You can store this pickle for 6 months; however it is in the best practice from our grandmothers  to place the pickle in the sun from time to time . 

Suggested modifications:

You can add in a few crushed garlic cloves for added flavor or replace sugar with Jaggary.

For people who don't like the bengali zing you can refrain from using jaggery and garam masala powder.By the way, did you know that green chilly is at the top of the list of top 10 food with highest in Vitamin C. Pickle making can be fun at times, specially pre winter with the warm sun and an occasional chill. 

Happy pickling.