The season’s just right to pickle mango, amla, drumstick and lemon

It’s the time to make lip-smacking pickles, high on flavour and packed with vitamins. Pickles are a great way to store fruits and vegetables and are packed with potential immunity boosters.

Gaon Connection
| Updated: June 3rd, 2021

Consumed in a limited quantity, pickles can boost immunity. Photo: Pixabay

You knew pickles were the perfect pairing for paranthas and a meal of dal-chawal, but did you know that they are also potential immunity boosters? Deepali Chauhan of Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Rae Bareli, told Gaon Connection that pickles are rich in antioxidants and keep the body safe from free radicals.

Consumed in a limited quantity, pickles can boost immunity. Pregnant women who consume mango or lemon pickle claim it eases morning sickness, while amla pickle is said to be highly beneficial for diabetic patients.

Pickles are also an excellent source of Vitamin A, C and K, and minerals such as iron, calcium and potassium.

Pickling is said to have been invented around 5,000 years ago to preserve seasonal fruits and vegetables. Photo: Divendra Singh

The consumption of vinegar-free pickles is said to increase beneficial probiotic bacteria that aid digestion.

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Pickling is said to have been invented around 5,000 years ago to preserve seasonal fruits and vegetables. Traditionally, pickles come in both sour and sweet flavours and complement Indian cuisine. The tangy mix of condiments includes spices, mustard oil or sesame oil and salt.

Lemon, garlic, gooseberry, fenugreek, drumstick and mango boost immunity, and all of them get used in pickles.

Here are some easy-to-make recipes that will help you use up an excess of fresh produce. Months later, you can still feast on their goodness.

Also Read: Puthandu Vazhuthugal: Neem flowers, jaggery and raw mangoes on Tamil New Year

Lemon pickle 

Ingredients

Lemon: 800 grams 

Salt: 150 grams 

Turmeric powder: ¾ teaspoon

Red chilli powder: 2.5 teaspoons

Cumin: one tablespoon 

Fenugreek seeds: 1.5 tablespoons 

Mustard: one tablespoon 

Grated ginger: one tablespoon 

Asafoetida powder: half a tablespoon

Method

Wash and cut lemons into small pieces and dry them in the sun.

Fry cumin, asafoetida and mustard seeds in a pan on low flame till they turn golden. Let the spices cool and grind them in a mixer. Mix salt, turmeric, asafoetida, and ground spices in a vessel, add lemon to it and mix well.

Place in a glass jar and set aside in the sun for a week. Shake the jar once a day so that the salt mixes well.

After a month, when the lemon rind becomes soft, add grated ginger to it. Then tie the mouth of the jar with a cloth and keep it in the sun for a few hours. Repeat this process for a few weeks or until the pickle thickens.

Also Read: Full of Beans: Wholesome winter food in Uttarakhand

Garlic and chillies pickle. Photo: Pixabay

Garlic pickle

Ingredients

Peeled garlic cloves: 1.5 kg

Mustard seeds: 25 grams 

Fenugreek seeds: 25 grams 

Turmeric powder: 15 grams 

Salt: 25 grams 

Red Chilli powder: 25 grams 

Carom seeds: one teaspoon

Mustard oil: one cup

Method

Wash the garlic and dry it in the sun for an hour and then place it in a jar.

Heat oil in a pan and add mustard, fenugreek, and carom seeds. When the oil is lukewarm, add the rest of the spices and pour it into the jar with garlic.

Shake the jar to ensure that the spices mix well. 

Cover the pickle jar with a cotton cloth and keep it in the sun for a week, shaking often. You can begin using the pickle after a week.

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Indian Gooseberry. Photo: Pixabay

Amla (Indian Gooseberry) pickle

Ingredients

Amla: 500 grams 

Mustard oil: 200 grams 

Fenugreek seeds: two teaspoons 

Carom seeds: A teaspoon

Salt: 50 grams 

Turmeric powder: two teaspoons 

Red chilli powder: a teaspoon 

Yellow mustard (powdered): four teaspoons

Method 

Wash good-quality amla and place in a vessel. Fill the vessel with one-and-a-half cups of water and place it on the flame. Reduce the heat once it comes to a boil and cook till the amla pieces can be easily separated.

Drain the water, and set the amla aside. 

Once ool, remove the seeds and separate the amla wedges.

Heat oil in a pan and turn off when hot. Add asafoetida, fenugreek and carom seeds. Mix in the turmeric powder, red chilli powder, turmeric powder, yellow mustard, and salt. Toss in the amla and mix well, before serving.

Also Read: Pongal O Pongal: Add sweetness to your day with this traditional Pongal speciality

Fenugreek seeds. Photo: Pixabay

Methi (fenugreek) pickle

Ingredients

Fenugreek: 40 grams 

Mustard oil: two to three teaspoons 

Lemon: Juice of 6-7 lemons

Asafoetida: 1/4 teaspoon 

Black pepper (coarsely ground): half a teaspoon Fennel (coarsely ground): one teaspoon 

Turmeric powder: half teaspoon

Red chilli powder: half teaspoon

Method

Clean the fenugreek seeds and wipe them with a cloth. Heat oil in the pan till it smokes and add fenugreek seeds to it. Fry on low flame till it changes colour and remove from flame. Add the spice powders and salt and mix well.

Drop this into a bowl and add lemon juice. Allow it to rest for three days so that the seeds soak up all the juice and spices.

Also Read: Flavours of Uttarakhand: Himalayan state to get its first spice garden in Sauni village, Almora

Lemon, garlic, gooseberry, fenugreek, drumstick and mango boost immunity, and all of them get used in pickles. Photo: Pixabay

Sahjan (drumstick) pickle

Ingredients

Drumstick: 250 grams 

Salt: one teaspoon 

Mustard oil: 1/3 cup 

Salt: one teaspoon 

Asafoetida: 2-3 pinches

Turmeric powder and fennel powder: one teaspoon each

Red chilli and black pepper powders: 1/4 teaspoon each

Coarsely ground yellow mustard: 2 teaspoons Vinegar: 1 teaspoon

Method

Wash and dry the drumstick and cut into pieces.

Add a spoon of salt and allow it to rest for three days, moving the pieces once a day with a spoon.

Heat oil in a pan and switch off the flame once it reaches the smoking point. Allow it to cool briefly and add the drumstick pieces and the spice powders. Mix well and add vinegar. 

Store in a glass or plastic vessel once it cools, and eat after three days.

Also Read: Gud Tidings: Migrant families from Bihar add the sweetness of jaggery to Bhogali Bihu in Assam

Mango pickle. Photo: Pixabay

Mango pickle

Ingredients

Raw mango: one kg

Salt: 100 grams 

Fennel: two teaspoons 

Fenugreek seeds: one teaspoon 

Vinegar: half a cup

Turmeric powder: two teaspoons 

Red chilli powder: two teaspoons 

Asafoetida: 1/2 teaspoon

Method

Wash and dry the mangoes thoroughly and cut into small pieces without removing the skin.

Roast fenugreek seeds and fennel to remove any moisture and grind once cool. Add the ground spices, salt and spice powders and vinegar to the chopped mango pieces and mix well.

Rest for a week, stirring once a day, to mix in flavours. The pickle is then ready to serve.

Read the story in Hindi.

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