bonellilou

          After, all the festive food for the last couple of days, most of us should be tired of seeing sweets and snacks, so today's post is going to be a spicy and tangy Thokku/Pickle with Maa Inji/ Mango Ginger. I actually made this some time back, when I had a couple of bags of maa inji, the same time, that I had made the simple pickle with it and the rice. This thokku is again easy to make, and it tastes very good with curd rice, or mixed with some plain white rice, or even as a side to idlis, dosas and rotis..

Need To Have

• Grated Mango Ginger - 1 cup
• Tamarind - small lemon sized ball
• Red Chilly Powder - 3 teaspoons
• Asafoetida - 1/4 teaspoon
• Jaggery Powder - 2 tablespoons
• Fenugreek Seed Powder - 1/4 teaspoon
• Mustard Seeds - 1 teaspoon
• Curry Leaves - 10
• Salt to taste

Original recipe here.

Method


          Peel, wash and grate the maa inji/mango ginger, using a fine grater and keep. Soak the tamarind in 1 cup warm water for 15 to 30 minutes.


          Heat 3 tablespoons of oil, add the mustard seeds, when it starts sputtering, add the curry leaves, followed by the grated mango ginger and saute it for 5 minutes.


          Take the extract from the soaked tamarind, strain and add it to the mango ginger. Add the red chilly powder, asafoetida and salt and cook for 10 minutes on medium/low heat.


          Then add the jaggery, fenugreek powder, mix and keep cooking on low heat for another 20 minutes ( keep stirring in between ). Cool it completely and store it in the refrigerator.


Note
Depending on your spice level and the spiciness of the chilly powder, add more or less of the chilly powder.
Don't omit the jaggery, it brings together the taste, the thokku should have a spicy, tangy taste with a hint of sweetness.

          Maa Inji or Mango Ginger, for those who are hearing about it the first time, it looks similar to ginger but it doesn't taste like ginger. It has a bland taste but it smells like raw mangoes, hence the name Maa Inji ( in Tamil ). We can't use this in place of ginger in teas or curries, it's mainly used for making pickles. Today's pickle is a simple one, since the ginger is tasteless, we mix it with lemon juice and green chillies to give the pickle the required tartness and spiciness. This goes well with curd rice, dal and rice, a perfect accompaniment to any meal..

Need To Have

• Chopped Mango Ginger - 1/2 cup
• Lemon Juice - 2 teaspoons
• Green Chilly - 1, chopped finely
• Salt to taste

Method


          Peel and wash the ginger, then chop it into small pieces. Add the chopped green chilly, salt and lemon juice, mix everything well and serve. It would taste even better, if it's left in the refrigerator to soak in the lemon juice, salt and chillies.


Note
Refrigerate leftover pickle, it might be okay for a day, but it's better to refrigerate.

          Sundakkai/Turkey Berries, we had missed this when we were in the US, then one year in Chennai, we got this, but now again in Bangalore, I am not able to find them. So whenever we go to Chennai, if we can find them, we usually bring some back. This time I had so much of these ( freshly plucked ), even after giving some to my friend and doing the Kuzhambu with it, I had some left. I wanted to do a pickle with it, something similar to the pickle made with kovakkai/tindora. This is a simple recipe, once done, we can have it after 5 to 6 hours, but I felt, that it tasted even better after I left it in the refrigerator for at least 2 to 3 days, it gives some time for the sundakkai to soak in the spice powders..

Need To Have

• Sundakkai/Turkey Berries - 2 cups
• Red Chilly Powder - 4 teaspoons
• Salt - 2 teaspoons
• Lemon Juice - 5 teaspoons
• Mustard Seeds - 1 teaspoon
• Fenugreek Seeds - 1/4 teaspoon 
• Asafoetida - 1/4 teaspoon
• Dried Red Chillies - 2, broken into pieces

Method


          Remove the short stems from the sundakkai/turkey berries, wash it well, smash it slightly, keep it immersed in water, till your done with the entire amount, otherwise it would change color.


          Dry roast 1/2 teaspoon of mustard seeds and fenugreek seeds, powder and keep. Heat some oil, add the turkey berries and saute for about 5 to 7 minutes, remove and keep.


          Add the chilly powder, salt, mustard and fenugreek powders and the lemon juice, mix and keep.


          Heat enough oil, add the remaining 1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds, when it starts spluttering, add the red chillies and asafoetida and switch off. Let it cool for 3 to 5 minutes, then add it to the sundakkai, mix and leave it at least for 5 to 6 hours, then serve.


Note
Sundakkai doesn't have any sourness, so only after sometime, it gets soaked in the juice and spices and tastes good.
Add enough oil and salt.

          Narthangai/Citron Pachadi, this is my mother-in-law's recipe, the first time I tasted it, I simply loved it, and I wanted to try it out myself. Couple of months back, I got half a dozen of these citrons and I couldn't wait to make this pachadi. The recipe is very simple, but peeling and taking the inner part of the narthangai is the time consuming part. I peeled and made everything ready the previous night and made the pachadi the next morning. This pachadi can be had, mixed with some white rice or as a side with some curd rice, do try this, the next time you get narthangai..

Need To Have

• Narthangai - 6
• Red Chilly Powder - 11/2 teaspoon
• Jaggery - 2 teaspoons
• Asafoetida - 1/8 teaspoon
• Mustard Seeds - 1/2 teaspoon
• Fenugreek Seeds - 1/4 teaspoon
• Curry Leaves - 10
• Salt to taste

Method


           Peel and remove the inner pulp of the narthangai, as shown in the picture, I got about a cup of it.


          Heat some gingelly oil, add the mustard seeds, when it starts spluttering, add the fenugreek seeds followed by the asafoetida and curry leaves. Reduce the heat and add the chilly powder and mix.


          Add the narthangai pulp, salt and about 1/8 cup of water, salt and jaggery, mix and cook on reduced heat for 5 to 7 minutes and remove.


Note
Depending on the sourness and bitterness of the narthangai, add more or less chilly powder and jaggery, the final dish should have a hint of sweet, sour and bitter taste.

          My family loves tomatoes, tomato chutney, tomato rice, tomato pickle/thokku, tomato dosa everything is a favorite at home. So, when I come across a new recipe with tomatoes, I always try it out. I have already posted two varieties of tomato thokku/pickle, today's recipe was given to me by a friend. I have used a little tamarind along with the tomatoes in this thokku, this one goes very well with idlis, dosas, adais, or even mixed with some rice..

Need To Have

• Chopped Tomatoes - 4 cups
• Dried Red Chillies - 6 to 8
• Tamarind - small lime size
• Sesame Oil - 3 tablespoons
• Mustard Seeds - 1 teaspoon
• Asafoetida - 1/4 teaspoon
• Salt to taste

Method


          Grind together the tomatoes, tamarind and red chillies, take it in a thick bottomed pan, just add a little water to the blender, add that water to the ground tomato.


          Add the salt and cook it on medium heat till it's reduced to a thick jam consistency, as shown in the picture. Keep stirring at intervals as the tomato mixture will stick to the pan. Once you get the thick jam consistency, switch off and transfer it to a bowl.


         Heat the sesame oil, add the mustard seeds, once it starts spluttering, add the asafoetida, and when the spluttering stops ( almost ), switch off. Let it cool a little, then add it to the cooked tomato, mix and store.


Note
Choose ripe and tangy tomatoes.
You can add more or less chillies according to your spice level, the key is, the spiciness from the chillies should balance the sourness from the tomatoes and the tamarind.

          Happy Halloween ! this time of the year always makes me nostalgic, I had landed in the US (New York ), years ago, during this time, in the month of October. Driving from New York, after gaping at the multi-laned highways and reaching Philadelphia, the next thing to catch my eye was these skeletons and other scary stuff, outside people's homes. Well, at that time I didn't know anything about Halloween, and I couldn't understand, why people would want to decorate their homes with these scary and sometimes gory things. But then now, after so many years, after all those Halloween costumes my daughter had worn, starting from pre-school, now she's 14, she's going to celebrate Halloween with a couple of friends here in India, I think back about the time in the US ( missing it ), and those memories make my eyes water. Well, now, wiping those tears and coming back to today' dish, Tomato Pickle, the recipe has nothing to do with Halloween, I made this to go with the Paneer Parathas that I have already posted. I didn't want to have the regular pickle with it, made this thokku or pickle with tomatoes and I tweaked the seasoning a little so that it had a more North Indian flavor in it. The pickle came out very good and tasted excellent along with parathas, next time you make parathas, do try this simple and flavorful Tomato Pickle..

Need To Have

• Tomatoes - 3 cups, chopped
• Red Chilly Powder - 1 teaspoon
• Turmeric Powder - 1/4 teaspoon
• Amchur Powder - 1 teaspoon
• Sugar - 1 teaspoon
• Fenugreek Powder - 1/4 teaspoon
• Roasted Cumin Powder - 1/4 teaspoon
• Mustard Seed - 1/3 teaspoon
• Cumin Seeds - 1/3 teaspoon
• Fennel Seeds - 1/3 teaspoon
• Fenugreek Seeds - 1/3 teaspoon
• Nigella Seeds - 1/3 teaspoon
• Salt to taste

Method


          Heat some oil, add the mustard,cumin,fennel,fenugreek and nigella seeds. When they start spluttering, add the chopped tomatoes, followed by the turmeric powder, chilly powder, amchur powder, salt and sugar, Mix and cook it covered till the tomatoes breakdown and turn mushy. Then remove the lid , add the fenugreek and cumin powder, keep mixing for another 5 minutes and remove.


Note
A mixture of mustard, cumin, fennel, fenugreek and nigella seeds is called panch phoran, you get them in Indian stores, use about 1 and a 1/2 teaspoon of it instead of adding them individually like I did.
I made a small quantity, hardly lasted for 2 days, so I didn't use much oil, but if you are making a bigger batch, add more oil and saute till the floats up, then store it, it'll last longer.