January is almost coming to an end and as I reflect back on the days that have passed by I am pretty pleased with myself. The goals that I had set for my self for 2015 have been partially met. I am less addicted to the computer although I need to de addict myself from Facebook but I guess I have a long way to go. On the flip side I am thankful to Facebook as I have reconnected with old friends and made new friends there. When I talk about old friends it includes those people who stepped into my life pretty early when I was still a tiny tot. Perhaps the first real association I had with another tiny tot was at the first play school I went to. This little girl was one of the students there as her mum ran the school in their own house. This also meant that her toys had to be shared and on one occasion there was even a tug of war for her favourite tricycle which she was asked to share with me. These are my earliest memories of her and the school. I must have been all of four that time.
Since we belonged to the same school and church we got to know each other really well and over the years were part of the same church choir as both of us are singers and were paired many times together for duets. After I got married and as most people tend to do, I drifted away into my own world and lost touch but thanks to Facebook and my blog we got reconnected a few years ago. Just recently she expressed her desire to make this pickle at home, her favourite she said. Since Roshan is a pickle fan he always dabbles around with recipes and ends up making small batches of pickles enough to last us till our next trip to Mangalore. I told him about this request and he set to work. Unfortunately many of his attempts were ruined as one needs to be really careful with the process and makes sure that no moisture gets into the container. The drying of ingredients became harder as winter approached and we hardly got any sunlight to aid this (our apartment faces the sea and the only light we get is during the sunset). However, who can stop two determined souls? I was after him to make the pickle and he was more than cheerful to give in to this request as it is one of his favourites too. Another big motivator was my sister in law’s cousin Clare Mascarenhas who simply loves this pickle and reserved a bit of the pickle she got from Bombay last year just to show us.
Anyway, when the pickle was finally made last week I was over the moon! The taste was spectacular and it brought back so many childhood memories as we used to get it from one of the ladies in my neighbourhood who sold pickles for some extra cash.
This pickle is known by different names – ‘randhaiche lonche’ (vegetable pickle) or ‘tendli carrot popaiche lonche’ (ivy gourd, carrot & raw papaya pickle) or simply called as the ‘mixed veg pickle’. It is a typical Catholic way of making it as we use a little sugar to give it a good balance of sweetness to the spice. This actually enhances the taste of the carrots but you can leave out the sugar if you wish.
The pickle goes really well with fish curry, especially one that has a roce (coconut milk) base but that’s the way I like it. You can pair this up with any kind of dish you like or just steal some and enjoy it just by itself (I know people who do that!)
So here’s the recipe as promised to you dear Sonya Pais. I hope you make it and enjoy it too!
And hey, before I forget, I wish all my Indian readers a very Happy Republic Day! I hoped to do a post that had ingredients that in some way represented the Tri colour and I guess I have managed to do just that!
Ingredients
For the Mixed Vegetables:
- 500 grams ivy gourd tendli, quartered lengthwise
- 500 grams carrots cut into thin slices, about 1″x1/4 inch
- 500 grams raw papaya cut into thin slices, about 1″x1/4 inch
- 500 grams hog plums ambade deseeded and thinly sliced (optional) * see notes
For the Masala Powder/ Spice Blend (enough for 100 grams of dried vegetables)
- 20 long dried red chillies deseeded (Use Bedgi or a mix of Bedgi and Kashmiri chillies)
- 1 teaspoon mustard
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon peppercorns
- 1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
- 1 teaspoon split yellow pigeon peas tuvar/toor dal
- 1 teaspoon split green gram skinless (moong dal)
- 1 teaspoon while sesame til
For the Salt-Sugar-Vinegar Solution
- 1 cup 240ml water
- salt we used table salt * see notes
- 1/4 cup (60ml) vinegar (reduce or skip this quantity if you are using hog plums in the veg mixture)
- 1-2 tablespoons of sugar if required
For the Tempering/Seasoning:
- 100 ml gingelly sesame oil * see notes
- 1 teaspoon mustard
- 2-3 green chillies cut into 1/4 inch pieces
- 8-10 cloves garlic cut into pieces
- 1 inch ginger cut into small pieces
- 1/2 teaspoon asafoetida hing
- 10-15 curry leaves
Instructions
Dehydrate/Sun-dry the vegetables:
- In a bowl mix the cut vegetable pieces with generous amounts of salt (*see notes), cover with a well fitting lid so that no moisture gets in and keep aside in a clean, dry corner of your kitchen. Keep aside for 2 days and give it a good mix once a day.
- After 2 days discard any excess water that gets released from the vegetables and spread the vegetables on a large baking sheet/plate lined with muslin cloth and sun dry them for 2-3 days or till they completely dry. *see notes
Make the salt-sugar-vinegar solution
- Boil all the ingredients together for a few minutes (till the mixture comes to a full boil) and remove from heat. Cool completely.
Make the spice blend:
- Dry roast all the ingredients mentioned under ‘Masala Powder/Spice Blend’ one by one and grind them to a fine powder. The amount of this spice blend is enough for 100 grams of dried vegetables.
- In a bowl, add the spice blend to the dried vegetables (100grams) and mix well. Add the salt-sugar-vinegar mixture little by little and keep. Mix the vegetables with masala powder and add the water solution little by little and mix it well. Cover the bowl and keep it overnight.
Temper/Season the pickle:
- In a small tempering pan heat the sesame oil. When it is hot, add the mustard and when they stop spluttering add these ingredients one by one in this order – garlic, ginger, green chillies, asafoetida (hing) and curry leaves stirring them for a couple of seconds after each addition. Let the curry leaves fry for a few seconds and then remove this pan from the heat and allow to cool
- Once the oil has cooled, add this tempering to the vegetables, mix and transfer into a clean, dry, sterilized glass or ceramic jar. For a longer shelf life refrigerate the pickle.
Notes
1. The hog plums are optional. Instead of using them you can use vinegar
2. If thoroughly dried in the sun the dried vegetable mixture can be stored (at room temperature) in an airtight container for about 6 months in order to prepare the pickle any time you like. A reader has tried drying the vegetables in the sun. Here is her experience “Tried the pickle and came out very well. Thanks Shireen. Do not have hot sun so dried the vegetables in the oven. Turned on oven to 150F for a few minutes and then turned off and left the light on. Did this every day for four days, worked perfectly.”
3. The salt to be used for the vegetables before drying them is an approximation. At least 2-3 tablespoons of fine salt is used for every 500 grams of vegetables.
4. The amount of salt to be added to the salt-sugar-vinegar solution should be adjusted according to the amount of salt added to the vegetables before drying them.
5. This pickle needs gingelly oil is which is the Indian version of sesame oil. Do not use the oriental one used for Chinese food..that is totally different. If you are living outside India you can look for gingelly/sesame oil in any Indian store. It would be stocked alongside mustard oil and coconut oil usually.
2. If thoroughly dried in the sun the dried vegetable mixture can be stored (at room temperature) in an airtight container for about 6 months in order to prepare the pickle any time you like. A reader has tried drying the vegetables in the sun. Here is her experience “Tried the pickle and came out very well. Thanks Shireen. Do not have hot sun so dried the vegetables in the oven. Turned on oven to 150F for a few minutes and then turned off and left the light on. Did this every day for four days, worked perfectly.”
3. The salt to be used for the vegetables before drying them is an approximation. At least 2-3 tablespoons of fine salt is used for every 500 grams of vegetables.
4. The amount of salt to be added to the salt-sugar-vinegar solution should be adjusted according to the amount of salt added to the vegetables before drying them.
5. This pickle needs gingelly oil is which is the Indian version of sesame oil. Do not use the oriental one used for Chinese food..that is totally different. If you are living outside India you can look for gingelly/sesame oil in any Indian store. It would be stocked alongside mustard oil and coconut oil usually.
Disclaimer
The nutritional values are only indicative.
Tried this recipe?Please leave a comment & rate the recipe below or share a photo on Instagram and tag me @ruchikrandhap
Tried the pickle and came out very well. Thanks Shireen. Do not have hot sun so dried the vegetables in the oven. Turned on oven to 150F for a few minutes and then turned off and left the light on. Did this every day for four days, worked perfectly.
Hi Shireen,
I have tried this out. Excellent pickle for my first try of pickles ever. Love your blog, very very helpful.
Supriya D'Souza
@ Anna M: So glad to know that this pickle turned out well! The idea of drying vegetables in the oven is so fantastic! Thanks so much for sharing this tip, I will update my post with it!!
@ Supriya: Thanks so much for your feedback! So glad to know that this pickle came out good!!
Dear Shireen, this is rita your friend from Houston. i have been preparing pickles and first drying them
in a hot oven (like your reader) however i preheat the oven to 300 deg, and place the veg (which i dry first with paper towels) and sprinle some salt. i let it dry for about 45 mins to an hour. I then saute it in the oil and remove to prepare as mentioned in your recipes. the veg i have used are Brinjal and Tendlis. i also
prepare with Cactus that is edible and available here. Mexicans eat it alot its called Nopales.
it is very good for health, and i use the brinjal pickle masala. Thank you always for sharing your Talent with the World. God bless
Dear Rita,
Thanks a lot for your message and for sharing those tips, I am sure that our readers will find them useful. Very interesting to note that cactus is also added to pickles! Wow! So much to learning everyday! Thanks a lot again and I am so glad to hear that you like my website!
Shireen, I’m confused , you have given qty of 500 g each veg, then you state the Masala blend is for 100g veg. Should I double according to qty? Also, cud I use mustard oil? Thank you
Hi Rita,
The spice blend is for 100gms of the dried veggies…once the veggies get dried properly they will reduce in volume and weight. Yes you can use mustard oil if gingelly oil is not available
ps : thank you for this recipe that Ma used to prepare, i will try it – she added dried dates ?
That’s lovely! What do they call dried dates in Konkani? We used to call them ‘karku’ 🙂
Haha my Konkani is rusty and not sure of the name for date, grew up in Karachi, Nd hardly spoke the Lang. Understand only some
Dates are called as khazoor in Konkani 🙂
Hi shire
Thanks for sharing this recipe.our childhood favourite too.can't wait to try this pickle.was just wondering if I could substitute the papaya with any other vegetable.
@ Andy: Thanks for your lovely words! Typically this recipe is a combination of the veggies mentioned above, but you could substitute the papaya with white radish perhaps..
Hello … I cannot tell you how surprised I was when I tasted the end product .. great recipe… thanks. Can you comment about the maturity process after the pickle is first made. From what I remember my Grandmother would keep the pickle to mature in a cool dark place for some time … before it was “ready” ….. so I was very surprised when your pickle tasted great immediately after making. Thanks again.
If made properly, this pickle will last upto 6 months under refrigeration! Keeping pickles for longer helps them ferment and taste better
Hi Shireen.
Iv been searching for the sweet lime pickle with flaked garlic recipe…it use to be my all time favourite. I would really appreciate it if u could share that soon with us. As it’s summer Nd an excellent time for pickling
Hi Bhavana,
I don’t have a good recipe yet, will see if I can get it from someone and I’ll definitely share it soon 🙂
Dear Shireen, pls clarify under spice blend #2. there seems to be an error. Thank you.
Dear Rita,
I did not understand your query….sorry! Please elaborate where you are finding the error. Thanks
Sorry, the error isn’t there anymore, perhaps I had a Senior moment lollllll
🙂 no probs!
Hello Shireen,
Can I replace sesame oil with virgin Coconut oil? Please do let me know as I don’t have the Indian sesame oil (got the Asian sesame oil).Thank you.
Hi Carolyn,
Yes, you could use coconut oil or even mustard oil which is generally used for pickles. Either of them should do!
Hi Shireen,
Thanks for this wonderful recipe. My first attempt at a pickle and it came out very well. This recipe is just perfect. Every one enjoyed it.
Thank you
Thank you so much for the great feedback Joyline!! Happy to hear that everyone enjoyed it!
I made the masala and mixed as given in the recipe turned out like my mum use to make just one question is how long it has to be kept before we start using it pls can you reply. Thanks for the recipe you brought back my dear mummy’s memories. Gidbless you
Thanks a lot for the feedback! You can use it immediately but the longer you keep it better it is as the veggies will absorb the masala.
Shireen, just a quick clarification. It is only for the spice powder, that we work out the amount per 100gm of dried vegetables. For ever other step ie. vinegar solution etc, those are the quantities for 2kg vegetables. That’s what I am working off, but just wanted to clarify.
Hi Patricia,
I believe I have answered your query via chat. The 2kg vegetables will shrink and reduce in size and weight once dehydrated so the spice powder will suffice. However use only as much vinegar solution as required to achieve the desired consistency of the gravy