AAM ER MOSHOLA ACHAR

 

PICKLE IS ESSENTIALLY INDIAN PICKLE TO ME; UNTIL LAST YEAR, I DID NOT KNOW PICKLE IN ANY CORNER OF THE WORLD CAN BE AS BLAND; WITHOUT USING OIL & SPICES!

Since childhood, I had seen HOMEMADE PICKLE making being a big thing in the family. Getting the choicest of fruits from the market; at a sale price; choosing the right ones; throwing off the spoilt ones; washing them under the running water several times and then putting them through the process of pickling; and then adding the best part of it; the roasted and ground spice mixture! The pickles made in our home were essentially BENGALI PICKLES; sweet ones with jaggery added to them. When jaggery mingled with the roasted and ground spices; they made a perfect pair for us in the family; sweet & spicy with a sour tone! At this time, I am having a similar kind made with chalta / elephant apple! The type of pickle the rest of India eats were never in the made to do list! They were bought to experiment whenever the family visited Hardwar, Delhi, Haryana. Gurgaon has a training centre for State Bank of India; if I am not wrong! That way, we got introduced to Indian Pickles at an age when I loved jams more than pickles. It is nineteen years now that I got hooked to sour & spicy pickles; chaats; I never did fancy them earlier! Dill Pickle does come home at times for a different purpose; I cannot consider it an "achar," no way!

WHAT IS AAM ER MOSHOLA ACHAR? IT IS RAW MANGO PIECES MARINATED IN SELECTIVE SPICE MIXTURE & DUNKED IN MUSTARD OIL!

From my childhood to teen hood; I had watched and heard of "Bengali Mishti Achar and Non-Bengali Jhal Nonta Achar"; a super simple clear demarcation. No one in the family did bother to know that something like "Chunda" and "Sweet Pachadi" existed somewhere within India. Way later in life; I had learnt, other parts of India also eat sweet pickles; and it is not Bengal's signature. It is just that the spices used are of a different combination. Bengalis, in general tend to think high of themselves. But these days we are open to other culture and food; more than other communities of India. We just need to know the limit and need not let go of "chirey-muri-khoi" and all the time talk high of oats. This is what irritates me just like any Bengali Grandparents; I also do not find any one good reason to buy a pricey Avocado leaving "kul, peyara, jam, kathal" and all the other vegetables we grew up eating. I myself do not encourage the shift. I believe, it is my fault if I cannot limit the amount of oily food in my life; this does not anyway lessen the goodness of our age-old fruits & vegetables. Else, I happily prepare an AAM ER MOSHOLA MAKHANO ACHAR; not really a family like condiment with raw mango, mustard oil and selective spices!

CONDIMENTS ARE ESSENTIAL IN THE LIVES OF INDIANS!

I mean; in our home, condiments like Indian sweet pickles, jam, jelly were a must for a happier daily life! Be it a sweet pickle or a sour & spicy one as this; I do them in less quantity. In the yesteryears; like many other homes; PICKLE MAKING was seasonal in our home and was done in bulk. I cannot think of buying 3-4 kilograms of raw mango or a little less than that of ber / jujube or 9-10 elephant apples; washing and dressing them sitting all day. I prepare a few kind of pickles round the year, in turns; but in less quantity. I lack space, energy and pickle need a lot of sunbath. Specially, the no-cook variety of pickles need the sunlight to help themselves be a perfect, Indian pickle. Trust me, if you once start making your own pickles at home, you may not want to buy them again. For me, preparing a condiment or baking, is therapeutic! Eating too keeps me going; look at my lunch today; 

INGREDIENTS :

RAW MANGO : 2 KG [TRY TO BUY YOUNG WITH A SOFTER SEED]

MUSTARD OIL : 300-400 ML

TURMERIC POWDER : 1 TBSP + 2 TSP

CUMIN SEED : 1 TBSP

CORIANDER SEED : 1 TBSP

CAROM SEED : 1 TSP

FENNEL SEED : 2 TSP

FENUGREEK SEED : 1/2 TSP

NIGELLA SEED : 1 TSP

DRY RED CHILLI : 4-5

SALT : AS REQUIRED

VINEGAR : 1/2 SMALL TEA CUP

SUGAR : 2 TBSP

PROCEDURE :

We will wash and discard the stem ends of each mango! We will cut them into bigger cubes; discarding the seeds. We will take off the thin inner layer lining the seed [my family did not use to take off the inner layer]!

We will wash all the pieces thoroughly! We will marinate the mango cubes with salt & 1tbsp turmeric powder well and keep under the Sun covered with a colander for a day or two, taking in after the sunset on each day!

We will dry roast the dry red chillies+nigella+fenugreek+fennel+carom+coriander+cumin seeds for a minute or two at minimal heat; cool! We will dry grind them until we get a coarse powder of them.

We will now add this freshly roasted and ground spice mix, 2tsp turmeric powder, a little of salt and the sugar to the mango pieces. We will mix them together very well.

We will now add about 250 ml of the mustard oil and the vinegar and mix very well. We will keep it under the Sun covered with a colander during the entire day time.

Every 4-5 days, we will pour about 50ml of oil atop the mango mixture! We will do this for 15 days.

After 15days, we will pour the pickle in a clean, sterilised bottle and pour little more of the mustard oil on top! Pickles continue to need sunlight even when they get edible.