Karela Pickle

Thursday, 09 April 2009 16:50 Other Regions - South Indian

Contributed by Mrs. Annie Thomas

Ingredients

Quantity	Measure	Ingredients	Description
Half	Teaspoon	Aniseed (Suwa, Shopa)	fDigestive
Quarter	Teaspoon	Asafetida (Hing)
10	Medium	Chillies, Green	chopped
2	Tablespoon	Chilly Powder, Red
1	Tablespoon	Cooking Oil
10	Flakes	Garlic	peeled
1	Tablespoon	Ginger	peeled, julienned
1	Tablespoon	Jaggery	grated
1	Teaspoon	Jeera/Cumin Seeds
2	Medium	Karela	un-skinned, sliced into thin rounds
Half	Teacup	Lime (fresh)	or vinegar
1	Teaspoon	Mustard Seed
1	Tablespoon	Salt
Quarter	Teaspoon	Turmeric Powder

Method

Cut the Karela after scraping the skin, and removing the pith into small pieces. Mix these with ginger, garlic, chillies, lemon juice and salt. Put in a sterile airtight glass jar, with lid. Shake well, keep aside.

Twice a day for 2-3 days. shake the contents of the jar. After three days, drain out all water in a dry colander. and spread out the contents over a clean kitchen cloth to air out for 2-3 hours. Take contents in a large bowl. and sprinkle masala mixture, jaggery, mix well.

In a small pan heat oil till . . Add a pinch or two of asafetida, keep aside till almost cooled. Add this heated oil to the mixture, stir and mix well. Bottle again in a sterile glass bottle, and allow to mellow for 2-3 days before using.

Note:

Allowing moisture to come in contact with pickle may deteriorate it and catch a fungus very soon. To prevent this, wipe dry all fresh ingredients before using them to make the pickle. Also, wipe and dry all bottles, bowls, etc.