mango pickle / aam ka achaar (achar)

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Hey,

Sydney it all set to witness warmer temperatures of around 28 degrees and the weather's perfect to set mango pickle. I have set chilli, garlic, and lime pickles before but always heard that mango pickles are tricky so never tried them ... until now :)

went to the markets are 06:00 only to find that fridays are wholesale days. so i couldn't pick up a couple of kgs of raw mangoes. So my brain is going "that's it, quit!" but despite all my instincts asking me to drive back home quitely, I go to this HUGE wholesaler and query, "what's the minimum amount i can buy?". "10 kgs", comes the stern and dismissive reply. ok, then, 10 kgs it is...



so - enough small talk. here's the recipe




before i begin, please note that two things are most important in this process - dryness, and cleanliness. You get a little moisture in somewhere and say adios to the pickle. You have a little dirt/ bacteria on your chopping board/ knife/ hands - bye...

chapter 1: the softening process

wash mangoes thoroughly and wipe them with clean cloth. cut the mangoes into 16 pieces (or less if you like chunky pieces, or, more if you like mushy pickles). Make sure to remove any bad mangoes/ bad parts as these might spoil the party. Keep the raw (white) mangoes separate from the semi-raw mangoes (yellowish)...





add 1 tablespoon turmeric and 2 tablespoon salt for 2 kgs of mangoes. mix well, cover / cling wrap and leave in sun for a day.






(btw, the recipe i am following closely is here)

Next day, early morning, heat 3 ltrs of mustard oil for 5 kgs of raw mangoes and let it cool down. (I guess you heat and then cool it to disinfect and de-moisturize the oil).

Drain the moisture out of the mangoes as much as you can.

For the pickle spice. For 5 kgs of mangoes -

1. 200 grams fennel seeds (1/2 crushed, 1/2 intact)
2. 100 grams onion seeds (kalonji) (1/2 crushed, 1/2 intact)
3. 400 grams salt
4. 1 teaspoon asafoetida powder
5. 200 grams chilli powder (lesser if you done want so spicey)
6. 200 grams flattened yellow mustard seeds



mix the ingredients together, add to the mangoes, add the cooled-down oil.



mix well and jar for three days in clean, dry bottles.





After three days, add the leftover oil so that it (the oil) comes at least till the brim. Leave it for at least a month, shaking/ stirring it everyday - but - with a CLEAN spoon. and no licking ;) !

lauki ke kofte

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holy moly, i was writing the title of this post and as usual, i was about to write its english translation when i realized it is "balls of long gaurd". LMAO! But I hope that it doesn't put you off your appetite since this is a healthy version of one truly delicious dish. "Healthy" because instead of frying the balls (ahm...), you can steam them followed by pan frying to hold the shape when put in the gravy.

Ingredients:

For the Koftas:
Long Guard/ Lauki - 1.5 kgs
Ajwain - 1/2 teaspoon
Salt - 1/2 teaspoon
Finely Chopped Chilli - 6-10
Finely Chopped Garlic - 3-4 cloves
Finely Chopped Ginger - Finger-size
Lemon Juice - 2 tablespoon
(Besan 4 tablespoon and 1/2 tablespoon Baking Powder)
OR
(4 tablespoon self raising flour)
Jeera (Cumin) powder - 1 teaspoon




Peel, Grate the lauki and mix it all together (don't add water unless required as the lauki leaves water when grated which is enough to hold it together). Done!

Make golf ball sized balls. Now either steam it/ boil it/ deep fry it (deep frying is of course the tastiest, but from health perspective, steaming is perfect!). Steam for 6 minutes. Pan fry the steamed balls so that they hold their shape when put in gravy.

For the gravy -

Ingredients

Finely chopped Onion - 1 medium
Finely chopped Tomatoes - 2 medium
Jeera (Cumin) seeds - 1 teaspoon
Oil - 4 tablespoon
Spice mix paste -
1/2 teaspoon chilli powder,
1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder,
1 teaspoon coriander powder,
the three mixed with 50 ml water
Salt 1/2 teaspoon

Put the cumin seeds in hot oil and add the onions. Turn heat to medium. When they are light brown, turn heat to high, add the spice paste. Add tomatoes as soon they start sticking to base (as we don't want to burn the spices). Turn heat to medium again and cook for another 10 minutes till it thickens. Add 1/2 liter water and cook for another 10 minutes. Add the koftas and serve. Yupp - easy :)

bairagi baadal bairagi (this post might only be of interest for hindi speakers)

i was frantically searching the depths of Internet for this one song from the album "Boodhe Pahadon Par", titled "Bairagi Baadal Bairagi". The album is a work from Vishal (music), Gulzar (lyrics), and Suresh Wadker (singer). The song in discussion is a particularly beautiful poem and the music is fantastic. It touches classical music in a way (though I am by no means, a student of classical music, I enjoy it nevertheless).

Ultimately when I found the song, I started thinking about all the other nice songs that are unfortunately not popular and hence not available readily. Wouldn't it be a great idea to have a platform that contains a repository of these gems.

Few of my favorite rare pieces are -

- yaad piya ki aaye (prahaar)
- aaja ri nindiya (nidaan) even this national-award winning movie - based on HIV infection - is rare to find
- suno re bhaina (godmother)
- phul-gendwa na maaro (dooj ka chaand)
- gham diye mustakil (shaahjahaan) apologies to sajal for pulling his leg on this one during undergrad :D
- o des se aane waale bataa (aap ki abida)
- saanware ai jaiyo (laal salaam) music was given by hridaynath mangeshkar)
- yaar julaahe (boodhe pahadon par) same album as bairagi baadal bairagi
- nikla, neem ke tale se nikla (hu tu tu) marathi themed song
- kaali ghodi dwaar khadi (chashm-e-baddoor)
- kahaan se aaye badra (chashm-e-baddoor)
- thirakti kyun hawa (yeh yaarana by renoo nathan)
- more saiyyan to hein pardes (bandit queen - nusrat)
- jeevan kya hai (is raat ki subah nahin)
- aaina mujhse meri (daddy (?) )

let me know if you have some songs that you have been searching for. maybe I can be of some help

cheers
gaurav