Nellikkai Oorugai/ Gooseberry Pickle/ Amla Pickle (Andhra Style)

       Gooseberry pickle is one of the tastiest pickle. I love gooseberry pickle a lot in my childhood. Even now i like a lot. I have prepared this pickle in a easy way Andhra style. I like to prepare pickles in Andra style because it is easy to make and tasty as well and with more gravy.

       I like the colour of the pickle and also the taste. It is really a mouth watering Pickle. Perfect with curd rice, plain rice or with Rotis. I Like the crunchiness of the gooseberry in this pickle.

INGREDIENTS:

Gooseberry- 20-25 large
Mustard seeds- 1/4 cup
Fenugreek / Methi seeds- 1 tablespoon
Turmeric powder- 1 teaspoon
Red chilli powder- 1/2 cup (for less heat and more colour use Kashmiri chilli powder. I used half red chilli powder and half Kashmiri chilli powder)
Salt- 1/2 cup
Asafetida/Hing powder- 1/4 teaspoon (optional)
Garlic pods- 20 cloves (optional)
Sesame oil/ Gingelly oil- 1/2 cup

PROCEDURE:

• If you are using oil from already opened bottle heat the oil and bring the oil to room temperature and use for this pickle. If it is new bottle use it as such.
• Dry roast the fenugreek seeds till light brown colour appears and remove from pan. Do not roast till dark brown as it gives the pickle a bitter taste.

• Add mustard seeds in the same pan and roast for a minute(just to get the heat. You can check by touching the seeds) till the shine of mustard leaves and gets the dull black colour.
• In a blender add both (Fenugreek seeds and Mustard seeds) together and make as fine powder.

• In that same jar add turmeric powder and red chilli powder with salt; give a pulse to just combine uniformly to get the 'Pickle Powder'.

• In idli steamer plate spread the gooseberry in a single layer and steam cook the gooseberry for 5 minutes.

• Do not over cook them. Gooseberry should be slightly crunchy if you taste it. Should not get cracks on flesh while cooking that means over cooked.
• You can cook them in water too. Steaming method retain nutrients inside.
• Cut the gooseberry into 4-5 pieces and remove the seeds. Add garlic with them.

• In a jar add some gooseberry  then add a tablespoon of the pickle powder, then oil. Likewise add the whole lot till finishes.

• Add remaining oil on top of the pickle and close tightly and shake lightly.
• Use it after 3 days.

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Pickle Powder/ South Indian Pickle Powder

       Indian Pickles are known as Achar in Hindi, Acharu in Malayalam, Oorugai in Tamil. Each state and region has pickles with wide range of taste and texture. In some families Indian families have some unique pickle recipes that are handed-down through the generations. Generally Mangoes, Gooseberries and Lemon are commonly pickled in Indian cuisine. This easy to make pickle powder suits for all these three pickles. You could make Mango and Gooseberry together in one pickle also using this pickle powder.

     Super easy to make and its really a finger licking recipe. This pickle powder is always better than the store bought Pickle powders. You can also reduce a teaspoon to tablespoon of chilli powder and reduce the spiciness of this pickle to suits your taste. Add half a cup of oil and garlic pods around 10-15 for the below said quantity of pickle powder. Click here to refer how to make this pickle.

INGREDIENTS:
Mustard seeds- 1/4 cup
Fenugreek/Methi seeds/Venthayam/Uluva-1 tablespoons
Turmeric powder- 1 teaspoon
Red chilli powder- 1/2 cup (for less heat reduce a tablespoon of chili powder or use Kashmiri chilli powder)
Salt- 1/2 cup
Asafetida/ Hing powder- 1/4 teaspoon (optional)

PROCEDURE:

• Dry roast the fenugreek seeds till light brown colour appears and remove from pan. Do not roast till dark brown as it gives the pickle a bitter taste;Set aside.
• Add mustard seeds separately in the same pan and roast for a minute (just to get the heat. You can check by touching the seeds) till the shine of mustard leaves and gets a dull black colour. Dont allow to pop up.

• In a blender add both(Fenugreek and Mustard seeds) together and make as a fine powder.

• In the same jar add turmeric powder and red chilli powder  and salt; give it a pulse to just combine uniformly to get the 'Pickle Powder'.

• If you are not using this powder immediately pulse everything except the salt. Add the salt with this powder at the time of preparation.
• Note:This quantity will be enough to make big 6 mangoes/ 30 big sized Gooseberry/ 25 lemon

Checkout how to make Avakai (Raw Mango) Pickle using this Pickle Powder.

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Pineapple Jam

       Pineapple jam is one of the yummiest jam. My choice for jam is always Pineapple jam. In my native place its pineapple season and a pineapple was there at my home and i planned to try this jam. Pineapple jam comes handy when u make tarts or dessert with fruits, perfect jam for brushing on top of fruits. Perfect side dish for Biryani.

       It is a super easy jam without pectin, artificial colours or any preservatives. Without pectin you can achieve a superb spreading jam consistency. The sweet cooking smell of pineapple filled all over my home. Super easy jam within minutes without any pain.

INGREDIENTS:

Pineapple-1, large (2 cups of pureed pineapple)
Sugar- 1¼ cups
Water- ¼ cup
Lemon Juice- ¼ , a squeeze

PROCEDURE:

• Peel and remove the black colour eyes lightly from the pineapple and cut the edges of the pineapple.
• Cut the pineapple into  four pieces and remove the center core from four pieces.
• Roughly chop the pineapple pieces and puree them inside the blender jar; Set aside.

• In a pan add sugar and water, turn on the heat to dissolve the sugar in water.
• After the sugar water comes to boil, the sugar dissolves and form first a cloudy syrup later it form a clear syrup.(Do not want syrupy consistency. But the sugar must be dissolved in water)
• Add the pineapple puree and stir well to combine.

• Once it starts to boil light frothy layer will form on top of jam. Dont worry it will disappear once the jam thickens.
• When the jam get thicken, the frothy layer starts to disappear and the jam starts to become a clear glossy yellow colour. Now add the lemon juice, mix well and put off the gas.
• Switch off the gas when the jam is almost thick but little runny if you drop the jam from spoon it has to fall easily. Because of the sugar content the jam thickens further after cooking.

• Once the jam cools down transfer the jam into a clean sterile bottle and tightly close with a lid. You can store this jam for a week in room temperature and can be stored in refrigerator for a month or more.
• Yields around 250-300 ml jar of jam.

• Note: Adding lemon Juice is optional in this recipe. If you are planning to use this jam immediately and finish it is not necessary.
• Lemon juice can be replace with citric acid available in shops too.
• Lemon juice is added to prevent crystallization of jam.
• Initially dissolving sugar in water properly is the essential step to avoid crystallization.
• In-case if your jam crystallizes after a day or two add a teaspoon or two of water and melt inside oven or on stove top your jam will be fine.

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Garam Masala Powder/ Home Made Garam Masala Powder

       Garam masala is a 'Spice Powder Mix' generally used in Indian Cuisine. It is generally used in most of the Indian Veg or Non-veg preparations such as Curries, Biryanis, etc., to give the strong Flavor and Aroma to the dish. This Garam Masala makes the dishes prepared Delicious and more flavorful.

       Making this at home so that it could be prepared freshly depends on our taste and spice level. Easy to make in 15 minutes. Can last its flavor for months if stored in air tight container/jar. If you do not get some spices like Black cardamom, Mace, Nutmeg.,etc you can avoid those and prepare the powder. I once bought the store bought garam masala and i have not used it since and threw it out after keeping for a long period since i did not like the taste of it. Once i started making at home, i have never bought ready mix powder from shops. You can realize the aroma while grinding the masala itself.

INGREDIENTS:

Cinnamon barks- 1/2 cup
Green Cardamom- 1/4 cup
Black Cardamom- 5-6 nos
Cloves- 3 tablespoon
Star anise- 15 nos
Nutmeg- 1
Mace- 4-5 nos
Peppercorns- 1 tablespoon
Fennel seeds- 3 tablespoons
Cumin seeds/ Jeera- 3 tablespoons
Bay leaves- 5

PROCEDURE:

• Lightly dry roast (heat) all the spices together in a pan till it get heated. You can check this by touching the spices. (To lift up the flavour and also to powder the spices easily) Cinnamon bark also will be easy to break after heating to accomodate in the blender.
• If you are planning to powder this in mill you can give it together. If you are planning to powder in home follow this procedure.
• Separate roughly the coarse textured spices in one lot and smaller spices in another lot.

• Cinnamon bark and Fennel seeds takes time to powder.
• Suppose your blender will not powder as fine powder sieve them and grind again the coarse pieces again. I have not done this.

• Tip in both the powder on a news paper and mix thoroughly with spoon and allow to cool to room temperature.

• Transfer this in a air tight jar and use  the masala powder for your desired preparations.
• After powdering you will get around 1 1/2 cup of Garam masala power for the above said measurements.
• Note:
• You can also include Marathi Moggu (Kapok/ Silk cotton Buds), Black stone flower, poppy seeds also in this garam masala powder.
• I do not use Dried Red Chillies or Coriander seeds in garam masala as we include separately both almost in all preparations.

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Bread Crumbs/ How to make Bread Crumbs

        Any type of bread (white, wheat, sourdough., etc.) can be used. There's nothing wrong with combining various breads - why let them go to waste? The mixture of various breads also gives your dishes some varied and wonderful taste experiences.

       Please, don't use stale bread in this process. Stale bread makes up for stale tasting breadcrumbs. Just store your odds and ends of bread in a large re-seal able plastic bag in the freezer until ready to make your homemade bread crumbs.

       You can use toaster also to make this bread crumbs. Toast till the moisture totally leaves from bread.

INGREDIENTS:
 

Bread slices- 6

PROCEDURE:

• Place bread piece/slices on an un greased baking pan. Bread pieces will dry faster and evenly when they are laid out in a single layer, rather than when the pieces are stacked; allow a bit of room between pieces to dry properly.
•  Preheat the oven to 180^oC  and bake the bread slices for approximately 10 to 15 minutes. About halfway through, turn them over so they dry evenly. Remove from oven and let cool. Now it looks like golden colour  toast.

•  Break the dried bread into smaller pieces and place in a blender/ food processor. Pulse until desired coarseness.
• Or If you want coarse bread crumbs, using your rolling pin or a large drinking glass, roll over the top of the plastic bag and crush bread until desired coarseness.

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