Avakkai pickle

Raw mango pickle a must do in many household, during this season. Spicy hot yum who won't love this. Be it curd rice, roti or paratha or just plain rice ghee and Avakkai it's just heavenly.

Few things to remember while buying mango for long term preservation,

It should be dark green skinned mangoes.

It should be firm

The inside should nice white flesh.

Don't use the ones that are bit yellow.

Clean the mango well and wipe it dry.

After cutting spread it on a clean cloth and keep under the fan for about 2-3hours .

Take care to use all clean and dry vessel for making this pickle.

Clean the bottles and jars the previous day and dry them clean.

Before starting to make the pickle.

Heat little oil and add a half tsp of hing when it starts to smoke switch off the heat.when slightly cool but still hot add little to all the jars you are going to store.

This will act as a preservative 

Now for the ingredients.

Recipe

Given quantity for 1kg of mango.

1 kg Raw green Mangoes
150 gm Mustard
3 tbsp Methi seeds
200 gm Red chili powder, (Kashmiri variety or any variety used in pickling)
200 gm Salt
250-300 ml Gingelly oil or mustard oil or both in equal proportions
1tsp hing.
4 tsp Turmeric powder
Method
Take a kadai dry roast the methi seeds on low flame. do not brown it just when it's hot enough to touch remove from heat to a plate.
Now grind the mustard in a blender very coarsely.
And the methi seeds too take care not to grind it to fine powder.
You can even use a mortar and pestle to pound both mustard and methi.
Take big bowl,it should be free of moisture.
Add all the masala mix well.
Now add the mango pieces little at a time keep mixing so that every piece of mango is coated well with masala.
Pour half of the oil given in measurement
Mix well, cover the bowl with a clean cloth tie it tightly around the mouth of the bowl and keep it in a dry place for about half a day or two three hours.
Then mix in the rest of the oil, transfer to the jar cover the opening of the jar with a clean cloth and place in a dry place.
Give it a good shake every day.
After two days you will see the mango pieces settled down and oil show on the top.
If you see the top pieces are dry add little more oil.
By the end of a week or ten days the pickle should be ready to use.
When you want to use take little amount in a smaller jar and keep.
Don't open the larger container frequently.
This way the pickle stays good for 6months to a year.

For Punjabi masala.
Extra ingredients needed
3tbsp of saunf/fennel seeds
2tbsp of Nigella seeds it's called karun jeeragam in Tamil,or onion seeds.
1/2tsp of ajwain.
All these to be lightly warmed in kadai and pounded with methi seeds.
Use mustard oil for this.
Give your valuable feedback if you happen to try my recipe.