Wednesday, November 15, 2017

Pineapple Pickle ~ Avanasache Nonche.


"Pineapple Pickle … This is a tikshe-godshe-amshe avnasache nonche / khatta-meetha-teekha pineapple pickle" … A perfectly balanced taste bud tickler, a chatpata pickle that can be relished with any dish of your choice … Goes well with paratha, roti, poori, biryani, pulav, curd rice, dosa and Idly too …But ekdum best with panpolo / neer dosa, but I served it with Khotto (Idly prepared in Jackfruit Leaves Baskets) … Yummy Yumz …. 


** Pineapple Pickle is hardly done nowadays and I don’t think in India we get it in stores unlike the easily available Jams. In olden days these pickles were prepared mostly in the eastern regions of India. As this is a versatile pickle that can be served with any dish and relished. It then moved on towards southern side of India too where pineapples were grown in plenty. In the regions of Karnataka were pineapples farming was in abundance followed this recipe as they were available almost all round the year. This is a perfectly balanced “Tikshe-godshe-amshe avnasache nonche / khatta-meetha-teekha pineapple pickle”. 

** If you love to have a little bit of pickle served along with your dishes, this pickle will go a long way. Though, I have made it a little bit spicier, you can make it milder so that you can send it in tiffin for children. They will simple love to munch of the pineapple chunks and also relish the chatpata pickle with some healthy roti. I too have hardly prepared this over years, as I had to cut down on preparing of roti due to severe back pain. This pickle was relished with stuffed parathas in my home a decade back or so. Going through my old diaries nowadays gives me surprises at the number of dishes I have almost stopped preparing. It also gears me up to do the same once again and blog it here to share with all of you. 

I am really thankful to all the mails I receive asking for suggestion and giving them too. I know there is so much more to be done, but I believe in quality than quantity. Blogging has been a wonderful stress buster and my biggest pal of all times. I love writing here and this has now become my baby that I cannot live without. There are many more recipes, yes off course including the one’s I have almost forgotten to be jotted down again. Some I find difficult to post as I have no equivalent name for the same. I am trying to find out the name of the tree barks etc. that we prepare for kashays as I have quite a few of them. Well coming to the recipe, this is simple and all the ingredients are readily available in the kitchen. So what are you waiting for, just go buy that pineapple, prepare the pickle and enjoy with your family and friends.

** Ingredients :
Pineapple / Avanasa : 4 cups edible small pieces.
Ginger / Adrak / Alle’ : 1 inch cut into pieces.
Garlic / Losun : 15 large one’s, peeled and cut into pieces.
Peppercorns / Kali Miri :5-6 Just crushed a little bit (4 pieces of one)
Green Chilly / Tarni Mirsanga : 3-4 cut into pieces
Curry leaves / Karbevu / Kadipatta : 10-12 fresh one’s
Methi / Fenugreek Seeds : ¼ tsp
Mustard / Rai / Sasam : 1 tsp
White Til / Sesame : 1 tsp
Sugar : 1 cup (+/- depending upon the sweetness of the pineapple)
Salt to taste / Approximately 4-5 tsp (Individual choice)
Vinegar : ¼ cup
Lemon : 1 large sized
Til / Sesame / Gingely Oil : ¼ cup

Powders :
Red Kashmiri Chilly Powder : 3 tsp (+/- depending upon how spicy you want)
Fennel / Badisep / Saunf Paowder : 1 tsp
Methi / Fenugreek Powder : ½ tsp
Hing / Asafoetida Powder : 1 tblsp
Turmeric / Haldi Powder : ½ tsp
Ginger / Shunti Powder : ¼ tsp

** Note : The thick outer skin should be sliced off from pineapple and the eyes / brown spots also should be removed. The pineapple should be cut vertically into for and the inner thick core part of the pineapple should also be removed. We need only fresh edible fleshy part of the pineapple for the pickle, so do take care of the same. You can keep aside those, retrieve 4 cups of the chopped good pieces and prepare juice out of the rest portion as I do. 


** Put the pineapple pieces into a flat bowl. Add in the salt and sugar and mix well. Cover and keep this aside for about 30-40 minutes. Mix in between once or twice. The pine apple leaves out water. Do not discard it, we need that too.

** Heat Sesame oil (If reluctant to use this oil, you may use any other too, but this pickle settles well with sesame / til oil.). When hot, lower the heat to medium and add in the mustard seeds, when they begin to splutter / crackle add in the green chillies, garlic, curry leaves, ginger and fry till the rawness of the ingredients go away. Say for about 4-5 mins on lower-medium heat. Lastly add in the methi, white til (sesame) and peppercorns and further fry for a few seconds. 

** Now lower the heat to minimum and add in the powder one by one ie chily, fennel, methi, hing, turmeric and ginger. Fry well for a few seconds. If you find the masala getting burnt, add in a little bit of the pineapple juice that has left from the pineapple chunks and mix well. Let the masalas cook for 1-2 minutes only. 


** Finally add in the all the pineapple chunks along with the juice left from it and mix well. Add in the vinegar and a cup of water to the cooking ingredients and bring to a boil on medium heat, while stirring it often. Let it cook for about 5-7 minutes, now add in the freshly squeezed lemon juice and mix well. Cook for another 2-3 minutes and remove from fire.

** Cover and keep aside for 2-3 hours. The mixture will thicken. Bottle the pickle In sterilized glass jars. Taking care to see that there are no air pocket within. Press down with a clean spoon if necessary. Done. This Pineapple pickle can be served immediately but best after 24 hours of settling time. 


** “Pineapple Pickle … A Tikshe-godshe-amshe avnasache nonche / khatta-meetha-teekha pineapple pickle” is done and ready to be served in 24 hours of settling time. You can serve it immediately too, but I suggest you keep it at room temperature for 24 hrs and then store it in the fridge and use and when desired. Goes very well with any dish as an accompaniment. I serve it with Khotto / Idly / dosa too … Tastes awesome with panpolo and rice bhakri.

** Note : Do taste and check the pickle now, if you find it needs more sugar add in before adding of lemon juice and mix and cook till the sugar gets mixed in properly. I had to add another 2 tblsp of sugar for the pickle. The amount of sugar actually depends upon the sweetness of the pineapple as some are very sweet while some are not and hence you have to check and add on if necessary. 

** Note : Similar is the case with salt, some like pickle to be salty while some prefer otherwise. I do not like it very salty. Also salt being not so good for health, I try curtailing the same. So it is again your choice, how salty you want the pickle to be. But do see to it that you add in enough for the pickle to get the storing shelf value. 

** Note: I have always stored this in the fridge, so I have no knowledge of its shelf life outside at room temperature. Also I have added in water so as it get a little bit of bulk in the pickle and I am skeptical of keeping it outside. In fridge it keeps good for about 2-3 months. Best finished in 2 months of time. Frankly it has never remained in my house for longer than that period of time.

** Note : For serving remove some amount of the pickle in small Jar and use it. Do not keep opening the larger jar often. That way unnecessary aeration can be prevented. This way the pickle stays good for months. 

** Note : Warning … While it is good to have a little bit of pickle ready to relish your food with, it is best to keep it within limits. Please do take care and NEVER GO OVERBOARD WITH EATING OF PICKLES as the addition of excess salt is not good for people who are diabetic, having BP issues etc. If the desire to eat persists see to it that you do not add salt or add less to the other dishes served along with it. That helps to keep in the salt balance in body.

** For the Udidu ~ Tandla Khotto (Urad ~ Rice Khotto Idly in Jackfruit Leaves Basket) Recipe, Please follow the link given below ….

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