Indian Style Cranberry & Green Chilli Pickle

Preserving in oil is an age-old and a very popular way of making homemade pickles in India. Being a tropical country with bright sun almost round the year lends enormous help in yielding good quality pickles.My grandmother used to spend most of her summer noons in making pickles from lemon or raw mangoes and during winters she switched to fresh root vegetables.They were all good and made really nice accompaniments to a meal of chapatis with veggies [flatbreads] or lentils & rice.

The slow cooking in hot sun with oil & spices played a crucial role in the taste of the pickle.Seeing my grandmother & mother making a lot of preserves,I learnt all the way. Before I move on to the recipe, I would like to share few tips on how to make your pickle taste great and last longer.

1. Always make sure that the vegetables or fruits you are using are totally moisture free.Wash them and leave them on a towel overnight to dry.Water is the biggest enemy of pickles.
2. Proper seasoning [salt] of the pickles is of utmost importance.Optimum amount of salt will develop the lactic acid bacteria in the pickles which in turn will combat microbial concentration & hence prevent the pickle from turning bad.
3. The size of the jar/container used for storing  should be such that you are able to fill the pickle almost till the edge.This will ensure that moisture in the air does not play a culprit.
4. Never ever, use fingers, unclean spoons etc to take out pickle from the jar.It will eventually lead to fungal growth within a few days.
5. If you are cooking in sun, occasionally shaking the bottle or mixing 1-2 times with clean spoon helps in even fermentation of the pickle.
6. Whatever liquid you are using for making pickles, be it oil or brine or vinegar, make sure that it should be enough to keep out the pickle from drying over a long period of time that you are going to store it for.

When I ate a fresh cranberry for the first time, it tasted very similar to an Indian wild fruit called the Karonda.Images here.It is a berry- like,wild,tart and sticky fruit available in India during the monsoons.I tasted cranberries, they were tart and I immediately knew that I have to try some pickle with them.I added few green chillies and Indian spices and it turned out to be a beautiful pickle.I normally don’t like to overload pickles with lot of spices coz I like to taste the fruit or vegetable while eating them.Add this pickle to your sandwiches, wraps or serve it with roasted meat for a tangy kick to your meal.

What I need:

• 1.5 cups fresh cranberries
• 10-12 Thai green chillies [or jalapenos]
• 3/4 cup mustard oil [olive/sesame oil](try to use a flavored oil]
• 3 tbsp salt atleast [adjust to taste]

Pickle Spice Powder: [This recipe can be used to make any north indian style pickle except lemons]

Note: You can reduce or increase any of the spice quantities as per your liking.

• 2 tsp fenugreek seeds [methi]
• 2 tsp fennel seeds [saunf]
• 1/2 tsp Nigella seeds [kalonji]
• 2 tsp small brown mustard seeds [rai]
• 2 tsp red chilli powder
• 1 tsp turmeric powder
• 1 tsp dry mango powder [amchoor]

How I did it:

• Wash the cranberries & green chillies.Pat them dry and ensure that there is no moisture in them.
• Slit the cranberries into half [or keep them whole if small in size] and cut the green chillies into halves or quarters.
• Mix the green chillies & cranberries with salt and set aside.
• In your coffee grinder, coarsely dry grind the fenugreek, fennel and nigella seeds.
• Mix the ground seeds with whole red chilli, turmeric,dry mango powder & whole mustard seeds.I like to keep mustard seeds whole,if not, you can coarsely grind them along with other spices
• Combine this spice mix with the cranberries & green chillies and stir well to ensure that they are coated well.

There are 2 ways in which you can complete the pickle with oil as below:

1. If there is ample sunlight in your part of the world, then stuff the pickle in an air tight jar and pour over the oil, put on the lid and give the jar a shake to ensure that all of the pickle is covered in oil.Keep in sun for about 2-3 days for maturing.This kind of pickle has long shelf life of over a month or so,unrefrigerated.
2. If there is no or less sunlight, heat the oil in a pan for about 4-5 minutes. Once heated, remove and immediately pour over the pickle.Combine well and stuff it in air tight containers and let stand till it comes to room temperature.Refrigerate for up to 2 weeks.

Enjoy!

Sending this to Hearth n soul #27 & Dr. Laura’s Tasty Tuesdays