An "instant pickle", this sweet and sour chilly pickle is a lovely accompaniment to most rice, roti and vegetable dishes, giving it that extra kick.
Author: Praerna
Recipe type: Pickle
Cuisine: Indian (Kerala)
Yield: 1 jar
Ingredients
3 hands full of chillies (red and/ or green)
2 tbsp Gingelly oil/ vegetable oil
2 tsp sesame seeds
1 tsp mustard seeds
2" piece of ginger, chopped fine
Dried tamarind, ball the size of a lemon soaked in ½ cup warm water
½ cup jaggery, grated or powdered
1 tsp red chilly powder
½ tsp turmeric powder
1 tbsp salt
For the tempering:
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tsp mustard seeds
3-4 curry leaf stalks
Instructions
Soak the tamarind in warm water and leave to soften.
Wash & dry the chillies. Then slice them into ½ to ¾ cm rounds. Also chop the ginger into small bits.
In a kadhai or wide bottomed vessel, toast the mustard and sesame seeds on medium-high heat until they turn a shade darker and are fragrant. Remove from heat immediately and allow to cool. Grind to a powder when cool.
Heat the oil in the kadhai and gently fry the chillies & ginger until they soften a little, about 4 minutes. Remove from heat and keep aside.
Extract the tamarind paste by passing it through a sieve, adding another ¼ cup warm water to the remains and extracting a bit more. Place this in the kadhai along with the salt, turmeric and chilly powder and heat until warmed through and well combined.
Add the sesame-mustard powder and the jaggery powder and cook on medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the jaggery melts and the mixture comes to a gentle boil.
Add the chillies & ginger and cook, stirring gently, for another 2 minutes until everything is well coated with the tamarind-jaggery sauce.
Remove from heat, cool and store in a clean glass jar in the fridge.
Keeps well in the fridge for 3-4 weeks and at room temperature for 7-10 days.
Recipe by Food-Dee-Dum at https://food-dee-dum.com/2014/07/12/mulaka-pachadi-sweet-sour-chilly-pickle/