LANKAR ACHAR

I am back to the island this morning and all set to do what I love doing ..... weaving real life stories of which my recipes are a part. At times my stories are laced with melodrama, strong, silly emotions, even a little bit of exaggeration may be ..... but their source is from real life truths.... an account of how my life had / is been. How much I say I am just fine, I do miss my family .... the mother and brother. To give a goodbye hug to your bereaved mother is not that easy.... neither it is easy to look straight at the brother's sad face and get through the airport gate. I was telling my mom when I think of daddy, the first thing that comes to my mind is that my little brother lost his father so early. I did not take a single picture with my family this time, I want to see my brother's hair full grown, no frown on his face and that lost smile on my mother's face. 

All said and done I do not like going public with pictures of my family members, may be that is a mental block. I stay with an immensely positive person that helps me feel positive .... more so when I echo and agree to what my relatives told our mother .... you have two pillars of strength beside you .... the son-in-law and the daughter-in-law. The supremely active lady will never sit and cry for her husband all day, she is pretty busy in her kitchen, with her garden, visiting places of worship.... wet markets.... that makes me proud of her. The daughter follows her.... did everything from meeting people to a bit of shopping..... only the last picture taken of their father on 7th January 2017 to be precise haunts her.... the one that rests on our bedside table now... smiling at me 24/7.... I was scolding him asking him to smile generously.

The old man loved achar / pickle ..... more the typical Bengali sweet ones. The person who was missing his wifey and son for three long weeks also loves achar / pickle to be served with his lunch and dinner... mainly the North Indian types. Both these men have immensely influenced my life and I have seen a lot of similarities in their character traits. To blog about an achar / pickle was a personal choice after a three weeks of break. There are three big jars of pickle resting at our mother's home .... kul / ber / Indian Jujube, chalta / elephant apple and raw mango... all sweet and sour with a dash of chilli. The mother laments who will eat them now. The one who went off will never come back, let me prepare and share in the honour of someone who is kind of an umbrella in my life. I used chilli padi too in this achar besides the normal green chillies for the extra heat. If you are not that fond of too hot chillies, skip using the red chilli padi and use the normal green, big ones. Since we use a lot of oil in pickles, it over powers the heat from the chillies... the more we give sunbath to pickles, the more tastier it gets and stays for longer period without spoiling. Come let us do this quick and easy Lankar Achar / Chilli Pickle together and store them in tight jars.

INGREDIENTS :

Green Chilli : 100gm
Red Chilli [Chilli Padi] : 50gm 
Oil : 1 medium sized tea cup [mustard always for us]
Vinegar : 4tbsp
Fenugreek Seeds : 1tsp
Carom Seeds : 1/2tsp
Coriander Seeds : 1tbsp
Cumin Seeds : 2tsp
Mustard Seeds : 2tbsp
Red Chilli Powder : 1tsp
Turmeric Powder : 1tsp
Sugar : 1tsp
Salt : As Required

METHOD :

Wash the chillies gently and thoroughly rubbing under running water for a while. Dry them with a clean, soft towel.

Dry roast the fenugreek, carom, coriander, mustard, cumin seeds without burning them. Grind to a coarse powder.

Chop the chillies into smaller pieces.

Add the ground spices, chilli powder, salt, sugar and turmeric powder to the chopped chillies and fold  in well.

Heat the the oil, cool and add to the chillies & spice powders mix, also the vinegar. Fold in well. Keep the bowl under the sun for 2-3 days covered with a strainer.

Now we can transfer the achar / pickle to a clean jar. Give it a sunbath often.