Andhra Chicken Pickle recipe

Ingredients:

Chicken with bones : 1 kg ( cut into bite sized pieces )

Ginger - garlic paste : 1 1/2 tsp

Red chilli powder : 1 1/2 tsp

Turmeric powder : 1/2 tsp

Juice of 3 lemons, heat it for 3 minutes and allow it to cool

Salt : as required

Oil : 4 tsp

Dry roast and make a powder:

Coriander seeds/dhaniyalu : 3 tsp

Cumin seeds/jeera : 1 tsp

Poppy seeds/khus-khus/ghasagasalu : 1 tsp

Methi seeds/methulu/fenugreek seeds : 1 1/2 tsp

Cloves : 6 no's

Cinnamon stick : 2"

Elaichi/cardamom : 1 no's

Star anise : 1 no's

For tempering/poppu/tadka/Seasoning:

Pinch of methi seeds

Fresh curry leaves : few

3-4 dry red chillis

15 cloves garlic, slightly crushed

3/4 cup oil

Method : 

Dry roast all the spices individually over low heat and cool. Once cool, combine all the dry roasted ingredients and grind to a fine pwd.

Heat 4 tbsps oil in a heavy bottomed vessel, add chicken, ginger garlic paste, red chilli pwd and salt and cook on high heat for 5 mts. Reduce heat to medium high and continue to cook till the oil separates and there is hardly any water content. This frying will take about 25 mts. This step is crucial to chicken pickle making. Keep stirring in between.

Heat 3/4 cup oil in another heavy bottomed vessel, add methi seeds, curry leaves, dry red chillis, crushed garlic and saute for a minute. Add the cooked chicken pieces along with any left over gravy and oil. Combine well. Add the ground spice pwd and combine well and cook on medium to high for 15-18 mts, stirring in between.

Add the cooled lemon juice and combine well and turn off heat. Cool and store in an airtight bottle and refrigerate.

Note:

Prepare this pickle when you have some time on hand and refrigerate it for a longer shelf life. The recipe I follow calls for heating of lemon juice so do not skip this step. Dry roast the spices well over low heat. Cloves, cinnamon, star anise and cardamom can be roasted together.

Instant pickle : Keera Dosakaya / Cucumber pickle

Ingredients:

Keera Dosakaya / Cucumber :  1 ( remove seeds and cut into small pieces )

Vinegar : 1 tsp

Nuvvula / Gingelly oil  :  2 tsp

Salt : to taste

Red chilli powder :  4 tsp

Fenugreek powder : 1/2 tsp

Mustard seeds powder : 1 tsp

Fried  Nuvvulu / Gingelly seeds  : few

Method :

Take bowl  add red chilli powder, fenugreek powder,  mustard seeds powder and salt , combine them well.

Add this mixture to Keera Dosakaya / Cucumber pieces .

Now add Gingelly oil and vinegar , combine well.

Season it with fried Nuvvulu / Gingelly seeds.

Serve with steamed rice and a dollop of ghee.

Tomato Uragaya / Tomato Pickle

Ingredients:

• Tomatoes :– 500gms
• Fenugreek Seeds :– 10gms
• Salt :– As per Taste
• Tamarind :– 50gms
• Turmeric Powder :– 1/4tsp
• Red Chili Powder :– 50gms

For Seasoning:

• Mustard Seeds :– 1tsp
• Fenugreek Seeds :– 1/2tsp
• Asafoetida :– 1/8tsp
• Red Chilies :– 2 (Break Each Chili Into Two Pieces)
• Oil :– 50gms

Method:

Wash & dry tomatoes. Cut each tomato into eight pieces. Similarly cut all the tomatoes into pieces and take them into a dry bowl.

Add turmeric powder and salt to the tomato pieces and mix well. While mixing squeeze the tomato pieces to make them soft and release some juice.

Transfer the tomato pieces along with the juice to a ceramic or glass bowl and cover it. Keep the tomato bowl in a dry place for two days (48 hours).

On the third day squeeze the tomato pieces and separate from the juice. Spread the squeezed tomato pieces in a plate.

To the tomato juice, add tamarind and allow it to soak. Place the juice bowl and tomato pieces plate under sun and dry them.

Cover the juice bowl with a slotted plate to avoid dust falling into it. Dry the tomato pieces till they turn crisp—this may take two or three days, depending upon Sun light. When the tomato pieces are dried till crisp then we can start preparing the pickle.

Now, we need to prepare fenugreek seeds powder. Heat a pan and add the fenugreek seeds and fry them. Grind roasted fenugreek seeds to make a fine powder.

Squeeze and remove the tamarind from the juice.

Spread the tamarind in a plate and remove the seeds and pith if any. Take the tamarind into a mixie jar and grind to smooth paste. If required add some juice for easy grinding of the tamarind. Add this tamarind paste to the juice and mix well.

Now add the dried tomato pieces to the mixie jar and crush them coarsely—this coarse crushing adds some texture and taste to the pickle.

Add this coarsely crushed tomato pieces to the juice and mix well. Now add the red chili powder and roasted fenugreek seeds powder to the juice and mix well. The pickle is ready for seasoning.

Seasoning:

Heat a pan and add oil to it. Add the fenugreek seeds and mustard seeds and fry stirring.

By the time the mustard seeds crackle fully fenugreek seeds change color. Then add the red chili pieces and asafoetida. Before the red chilies turn dark in color add the seasoning to the prepared pickle and mix well.

Keep this pickle aside for two hours and then serve. The bitterness of the fenugreek seeds powder gets balanced with the tamarind-tomato juice and tastes better after two hours.

Serve with plain hot rice and ghee, dosa, utappam, pesarattu, Curd rice etc.

Nimmakai Pachhadi / Lemon Pickle / Nimbu ka Achaar

Ingredients:
Lemon : 4-5 medium Limes

Green Chillies: 5-6, finely chopped ( or as per taste)
Cloves of Garlic: 3 no's, finely chopped
Salt as per taste

Spices:

Red Chilli Powder : 2-3 tsp ( or as per taste )
Turmeric Powder : 1/2 tsp
Fenugreek Seeds: 1 1/2 tsp

For Tadka/Tempering/Poppu/Seasoning:

Mustard Seeds : 1 tsp
Jeera/Cumin Seeds: 1/2 tsp
Hing/Asafoetida: 1/2 tsp
2 springs of Curry Leaves
Oil : 1 tsp

Method:

1.    Wash and pat dry the lime/lemons. Make sure that there is no moisture left. With the help of a clean and dry knife, cut the limes into halves and cut each halves into 4-6 equal pieces.

2.    Start to layer the lime and salt in a clean and dry sterilised jar, preferably ceramic or glass jar with a tight lid. First place few lime pieces in a single layer and spread 1-1½ tbsp of salt on top. Continue to layer lime pieces and top them with salt until you exhaust all the limes. Close the jar and leave it in a window sill where there is plenty of sunlight steaming for 2-3 weeks. Make sure that you shake the jar once in a day to move the pieces around in the container without opening the lid. This will help in spreading the salt evenly and softening the lime.

3.    After 2-3 weeks, the limes/lemon pieces would have softened and changed their skin colour.

4.    Lightly roast the fenugreek seeds until their colour deepens to light red. Let them cool completely before grinding them to fine powder with a help of a pestle and mortar or in a spice grinder. Keep it aside until needed.

5.    Heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds. When mustard seeds start to pop and splutter, add finely chopped garlic and fry them until they start to brown on the edges.

6.    Mix in finely chopped green chillies and curry leaves and sauté for few seconds.

7.    Next add cured lemon pieces along with the juice and stir them for 2-3 minutes on medium heat.

8.    Mix in red chilli powder, fenugreek powder and turmeric powder and stir them well so that each lime piece is coated well with the spices. Add powdered hing and mix them well before switching off the gas.

9.    Let the Spicy Lemon Pickle or Nimbu Ka Achaar cool down to room temperature before storing it in a clean and dry airtight sterilised jar. It can be stored for 3-4 months in room temperature and upto 6-8 months in refrigerator if made with utmost care and stored in a right condition. You can serve this delicious tongue tickling Nimbu Achaar or Spicy Indian Lemon Pickle with dal and rice, yogurt rice, dosa or any Indian flat breads.

Gongura Chutney ( pickle ) / Chutney with Sorrel Leaves

Gongura Chutney ( pickle ) / Chutney with Sorrel Leaves

Ingredients:

Gongura/Sorrel Leaves:2 Bunches, finely chopped ( discard Stems )

Tamarind Juice: 1 Cup

Red chilli powder: 2 tbsp

Salt: as required ( appro. 100gm )

Bengal Gram: 2 tbsp

Turmeric: 1/2 tbsp

Mustard seeds: 2 tbsp

Red chilli: 4 - 6

Oil: 3 tbsp

Method:

Take a pan add  2 tbsp of Oil, let it heat.

Now add Gongura/sorrel leavesand fry them.

Combine this Gongura/sorrel leaves with salt, red chilli powder and Grind them.

Now take a pan add 1 tbsp oil, let it heat.

Add red chilli, Bengal gram, Mustard seeds, Tamarind Juice, Turmeric powder and allow them to cook for 15 minutes.

Now combine this with grind-ed Gongura/ sorrel leaves.

This can be stored in jar.

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