Tomato Pickle - Thakkali Oorugai

Makes about 300 g
We finished the last batch of pickles and I realized that once you start having pickles you can't do without them. It becomes like an important part of a meal.I wanted to make mango pickle as it's relatively easier to make and stays good for a long time. But then tomato pickle is my hubby's favorite,he claims that the sweet and spicy flavour of it makes it a great accompaniment for anything from dosas to rice:)I usually make another version of this ,more of what we call a 'Thokku ' in tamil which has onions and garlic.But this is an easier and yummy version with only tomatoes.It stays good for 3 -4 weeks in the refrigerator.But believe me you will find yourself finishing it way before 4 weeks :)

You'll need:

Tomatoes - 1/2 kg - about 5 big firm ones
powdered salt - 1 tbsp
Red chilli powder - 2 tbsp ( you can add more )
Tamarind - 50 g
Sesame oil - 90 ml
Fenugreek seeds - 1.5 tsp
Mustard seeds - 1.5 tsp
Hing/Asafoetida - 1 tsp

Method:
-Clean the tomatoes and pat them dry.Make sure the knife and other utensils used are moisture free.

-Chop the tomatoes finely.
-Add the tamarind to 100 ml of water and let it boil on  a medium flame for 4- 5 minutes.Let it cool.Squeeze it well and strain to extract the tamarind juice
-Dry roast the fenugreek seeds and mustard seeds separately and grind them together to a fine powder.
-To a pan add oil and when it heats up, add the asafoetida. Stir for a few seconds and add the tomatoes.Saute them well until they turn soft this will take around 7- 10 minutes on a medium flame
-Now add the tamarind juice and mix well.Add the salt and chilli powder and mix well.
-Now reduce the flame and let it boil for 10 - 15 minutes or until you see oil floating on top of the mixture. The oil will completely separate from the mixture and it will start leaving the bottom of the vessel.

-Add the fenugreek and mustard seed powder and mix well ,for another 2 minutes.
-Remove from the stove ,let it cool and store in an airtight container.

                         Thanks for stopping by ! Have a great day !

Sending this to Dish Name Starts with T

Garlic Pickle - Poondu Oorugai

Makes about 200g
Pickles ! some people just love them.Hubby is one of those people who loves pickles and Garlic too.I guess all of us would know about how healthy Garlic is,especially for new mothers.Garlic actually reminds me of a comedy in the Tamil movie 'Mozhi' where Prakash Raj speaks about the health benefits of Garlic:) This is a very easy to prepare version of Garlic Pickle and stores well in the fridge for  more than a  month.I usually make small batches every month. It makes a great side dish but tastes heavenly with Curd Rice !

Ingredients :
Garlic  - 200g
Sesame oil - 75 ml
Red Chilli Powder - 50 g (around 3-4 tbsp)
Turmeric Powder - 1/2 tsp
Lemon Juice - Juice from one big one
Salt - 1 tbsp
Fenugreek & Mustard Seeds - 2 tsp
Hing/ Asafoetida - 1 tsp
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp(for tempering)

Method: 

-Peel the Garlic. If the pods are big slice them vertically to resemble small ones.
-Dry Roast 2 tsps each of Fenugreek & Mustard Seeds and grind to a fine powder.
-To the lemon juice add the red chilli powder ,fenugreek & mustard seeds powder and the turmeric powder and mix well.Add some more lemon juice if needed to make a thick well blended paste,shouldn't be watery.
-Add the oil to a pan when it heats up splutter the mustard seeds and add the Hing.
-Add the Garlic on low flame and let it cook until they are half done,takes about 5 minutes.
-Then add the lemon juice & powders mixture and mix well, let it cook for a further 5 - 7 minutes on low flame until when it starts oozing out
oil .
-Take it off the stove and let it cool.Store in an airtight container.For best results let it sit at least for one day undisturbed for the flavours to set in.

Note:
Make sure that the knife,cutting board and all the utensils,like blender are wiped dry and free of moisture .

Sending this to Lets Cook Pickles

Mango Pickle

Mango Pickle
I'm not a big fan of mangoes,though I've seen lot of my friends go real crazy over them.It's real funny when i think that there was this mango tree standing in our house,in Chennai and my mom was always making pickles with them.I was prejudiced about it's taste and never really tried it.My hubby is one of those people who love mangoes and only when i started preparing pickles for him did i realize that I've missed all those years of my mom's pickles !

Ingredients :
Raw Mangoes - 2
Salt - 1 tbsp
Fenugreek - 1 tsp
Red Chili powder - 2 tbsp
Asafoetida - 1 tsp
Gingely oil - 100 g
Mustard - 2 tsp


Method :
-Clean the mangoes, pat them dry and chop them into small pieces.
-Add the salt to them and mix it well.
-Dry roast the Fenugreek and 1 tsp of Mustard in a pan. Grind them into a fine powder.
-Add the Fenugreek & mustard powder,Asafoetida and red chili powder to the mangoes and mix well.
-Heat the oil  and splutter 1 tsp of mustard.
-Pour the oil over the mango and mix it good !

Paruppu Podi

Paruppu podi
Podis and Thokkus come real handy on days when we don't feel like cooking.We usually stock our kitchen with at least a few of them.Just these powders with rice and a spoon of Ghee can taste yum !

Ingredients:
Dhalia - 1cup
Copra or dry roasted coconut scrapings - 1/4 cup ( can use desiccated coconut too)
Whole Red Chilli - 8
Garlic - 5 big pods
Curry leaves - a sprig
Mustard - 1 tsp
Oil - 4 tsp
Salt - as needed

Method :
-In a pan add 1 tsp of oil and fry the Whole red chilies on low heat until they puff up and are well browned, remove from pan.
-To the same pan add another tsp of oil, fry the Garlic and remove.
-Again add 2 tsps of oil to the pan and splutter the mustard and the curry leaves.
-In a blender grind the Whole red chilies,salt and Dhalia finely.Then add the coconut and garlic and pulse again.
-Now mix the tempering into the powder or you can add it to the blender and pulse along with the mixture.
-It's done !