How to make Fresh Red Chilli Pickle.

Fresh red chilli pickle

Lal mirch ka achaar

 

I love Indian pickles, my first experience of said pickles was a jar of Pataks chilli pickle that we picked up to try. I ended up putting it on everything from my cheese sandwiches and salads right through to curries and cooked meals.

I have been searching the internet for a good recipe so we could make good use of our massive chilli harvest.

  For this recipe you will need:

1/2 cup of Fresh Red Chillis

3 tbsp Mustard seeds

2 tbsp Fennel seeds

1/4 cup Mustard oil

1/4 tsp Asafoetida (we used ground mace)

3 tsp Salt

2 tbsp Lemon juice

First up you need to cut up the chillis, I cut them in half and then slit them along the length. I also left the seeds in as we quite like the extra heat.

 Now put the chillis into a bowl and cover them with the salt, this will draw out any moisture in the chillis. Leave them sat in the salt for an hour minimum, longer would be better.

Now you can turn to the mustard seed mixture! I use a spice grinder to blitz up the seeds.

 Once you have ground the Mustard and fennel seeds add them to a bowl, add the Asfoetida and a pinch of salt and then mix it all up.

 Next step is the oil! The recipe calls for Mustard oil but you can use any oil really. But if using Mustard oil you will need to heat it up until its smoking and then let it cool down. That reduces the pungent smell of the oil. If using another type of oil just heat it up gently and let it cool down a bit.

Then you are going to add the oil to the mustard seed mix.

Give it a good stir to mix all the oil in.

By now the chillis should be sitting in some water, strain them off and then add them to the seed and oil mix.

 Stir well so that all the chillis are evenly coated.

Next add the lemon juice and stir well.

Now put contents into a jar and seal the top on, you can leave it for two to three hours which should soften the chillis a bit and in theory you should then be able to eat it. I will probably leave it for a day or two. This will keep for two to three months if kept in the refrigerator.