Indian Pickle Recipes - Spicy Carrot Pickle

Spicy Carrot Pickle

Serves: 5
Preparation time: 45 minutes

Ingredients:

15 carrots, peel & cut into long pieces
2 onions, chopped into big cubes
1/2 tbsp. ginger-garlic paste
2 dry red chilies, broken into pieces
2 tsp. coriander powder
1 tsp. mustard powder
1/2 tsp. cumin (jeera) powder
1/4 tsp. fenugreek (methi) powder
1 1/2 tsp. brown sugar (or powdered jaggery)
3 tsp. lemon juice or vinegar
2 tsp. red chili powder
A pinch of asafoetida (hing)
1 tbsp salt (or to taste)

For the seasoning:

1 cup oil
1/4 tsp. mustard seeds
1/4 tsp. cumin seeds (jeera)
1/4 tsp. urad dal (black gram)
1/4 tsp. methi (fenugreek) seeds
1 tbsp curry leaves

Method:

1. Make a coarse paste of the onions and keep aside.
2. Heat the oil in a deep frying pan and add mustard seeds, cumin seeds, fenugreek seeds and urad dal to it. Once the seeds splutter add asafoetida, broken red chilies and curry leaves too.
3. Then add onion paste, ginger-garlic paste and sauté till golden brown. Turn off the stove and allow it to cool.
5. After the mixture cools, add the carrot pieces, salt, lemon juice and all other ingredients. Mix well and store in an airtight jar. Refrigeration is required.
6. Allow the carrots to marinate in this mixture for 2 days. The pickle is then ready to serve.
7. Serve with steam rice or curd (yogurt) and rice.

Indian Pickle Recipes - Spicy Mango Pickle

Spicy Mango Pickle

Makes 1 cup
Preparation time: 35 minutes

Ingredients:

2 cups (250 grams) raw mangoes, cut into 25 mm (1") cubes
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
4 tsp red marinade
2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp kalonji seeds
2 tsp fennel seeds
2 tbsp mustard oil
2 tsp salt

For red marinade:

6 1/2 tbsp crushed fenugreek seeds
3 tsp split mustard seeds
3 1/2 tsp lemon juice
6 tbsp mustard oil

Method:

1. For red marinade, mix all the ingredients in a bowl. Makes 1 cup. Keep aside.
2. Apply salt and turmeric powder to the mangoes and keep aside for 30 minutes. Discard the mango water.
3. Add the red marinade, chili powder, kalonji seeds, fennel seeds and mustard oil and mix well.
4. This pickle can be stored refrigerated for upto 1 week.

Indian Pickle Recipes - Sweet Apple Pickle

Sweet Apple Pickle

Preparation time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

4-5 apples, cored and sliced
2 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups vinegar
1 tbsp fresh ginger, minced
1 tsp garam masala
3/4 tsp salt
1 tsp dried ginger powder
2 onions, sliced
8-10 green chilies

Method:

1. In a large non-aluminium pan, combine vinegar, sugar, salt, garam masala, ginger powder and fresh ginger. Bring to a boil.
2. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook, stirring occasionally, until sugar is completely dissolved.
3. Add onion and apple slices and cook.
4. Add green chilies and cook, stirring occasionally, until mixture becomes thick.
5. Cool and store in an airtight container.

Indian Snacks Recipes - Kachori

Kachori

Ingredients:

500g all-purpose flour (maida)
100g ghee or butter
A pinch of cooking soda
Salt to taste
50g green gram, boiled & drained
50g Bengal gram flour
1/4 tsp coriander powder
1/4 tsp chili powder
A pinch of turmeric
A bunch of cilantro, chopped
A bunch of mint leaves, chopped
1/2 tsp dry mango powder (aamchur)
5g fennel seeds
Oil for frying

Method:

1. Sieve the flour along with salt and cooking soda. To this, add ghee and make a fine dough using little water. Cover and keep aside.
2. Heat 2-3 tbsp of oil in a pan and fry the fennel seeds for few seconds. Then add drained and cooked green gram, Bengal gram flour, chili powder, coriander powder, turmeric, dry mango powder and fry for few minutes.
3. Also add chopped cilantro, mint leaves, salt and cook for few more minutes. When done, remove from heat and keep aside.
4. Make small balls from the dough. Take a ball, keep on your palm and press a little to stuff the above mixture.
5. Seal the edges with the same dough and press the ball a little to oval shape. Repeat the process for the remaining balls and keep aside.
6. Heat oil and fry the kachoris until golden brown in color and crispy.
7. Serve hot with tamarind or mint chutney.

Indian Snacks Recipes - Masala Chaat

Masala Chaat

Serves: 5-6
Preparation time: 1 hour

Ingredients:

2 cups boiled green peas
2 lemon sized balls of tamarind
6-7 split green chilies
Some Jaggery
9-10 dates
1 bunch coriander leaves
3 tbsp coconut, dried & desiccated
1-2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp mustard seeds
3 tsp cumin seeds, roasted & powdered
2 tsp coriander seeds, roasted & powdered
1-2 tsp chat masala
Few rice vadas
2-3 tbsp grated carrots
1 onion, minced
Cooking oil

Method:

To make the soup:

1. Boil a glass of water with a small square of jaggery (sugar can be substituted instead of jaggery, but it will not give the same taste).
2. Add 2 tsp of roasted cumin powder and thick juice of one lemon size ball of tamarind.
3. Boil, cool and keep aside.

To make the sweet chutney:

1. De-seed the dates and keep aside.
2. Blend into a smooth paste the dates, juice of the other lemon size tamarind ball, a little jaggery, 1 tsp roasted cumin powder, the coriander powder and salt to taste.

To make the hot chutney:

1. Season oil with mustard seeds. Also add green chilies, chopped coriander leaves, red chili powder and the desiccated coconut.
2. Fry for a while and then blend it into a smooth paste, adding salt to taste.

How to serve the chat:

1. For each serving of the chat, powder some vadas and add one portion of the boiled peas to it.
2. Add 3-4 tbsp of the soup, 2-3 tsp of the hot chutney and 4-5 tsp of the sweet chutney.
3. Mix well Sprinkle some red chili powder and chat masala on top.
4. Garnish with grated carrot and minced onion.
5. It should be served immediately or it will become soggy.