ANDHRA STYLE CUT MANGO PICKLE / AVAKKAYA PICKLE WITHOUT GARLIC - USING HOMEMADE PICKLE POWDER
People from Andhra love their food spicy. This fact is known to everyone. Besides this,they take pride in being the best among the lot for their ability and skill in preparing Preserves and Spice powders. I am a lover of spicy food (spent my childhood in Hyderabad) with my tolerance being very high. I thoroughly enjoyed every bit of this Pickle making project right from chopping to bottling.
Something that I notice about Singapore's biodiversity is its unusual blooming of Mango flowers and fruits in Parks and residential areas even during non seasonal times. The harvest is so enormous that I feel these fruits would become a waste if unplucked. Its true most of the times because I notice them bloom, fruit, ripen and fall off the tree just like that. I am sure if the entire Mangoes across Singapore are collected, they would account to some tonnes of good produce for a Processing industry. Few months back, my husband bought home a bag ful of raw mangoes that his colleague had given which she had apparently picked from some neighbourhood. These little tender ones turned into yummy "Avakkaya Pickle".
I am very glad to share my Episode II of Pickle making ie Andhra Style Cut Mango Pickle/ Avakkaya Pickle using Homemade Pickle powder. After my successful attempt in posting Episode I of Sweet Mango Pickling, I was urged to post the second one too before the entire batch vanishes. This episode took me a long time as I prepared the Pickle powder and did Part I of pickling on the same day. Refer Notes for tips on Pickling.
Preparation Time : 24hrs Pickling Time : 25min +15 mins Yield: 3/4 kg of Pickle Cuisine: Andhra Spice Level : Spicy Recipe Source: MIL
Ingredients
8 to10 Raw and Sour Mangoes
Pickle powder as required
250 ml of Sesame Oil
Other Utensils
1 Clean & dry Glass or Ceramic jar with a tight fitting lid to hold
2 Clean & dry wooden laddles
1 Clean & dry wooden spoon
1 Clean & dry wooden spoon
Clean & dry Chopping board and Knife
Method
- Wash the Mangoes clean and pat it dry with a tissue paper or clean towel. Chop the Mangoes into Quadrants. We also need the seed coat intact.
- Collect all the chopped Mangoes in a clean dry plate. Avoid touching the Mangoes with your hands except while chopping. Use the laddle for transfering.
- Keep the clean glass/ceramic jar beside you along with the prepared Pickle powder and Mango pieces. Take a laddle full of Pickle powder and sprinkle it at the bottom of the glass jar first. Next add few Mango pieces.
- Top it again with another laddleful of Pickle powder followed by Mango pieces and repeat until you reach the head space. Do not fill more than that as you need space for the oil.
- Finally top it up with little more powder so that all the Mnago pieces are smeared well. Close the lid and leave it in a cool, dry place, untouched for 24 hours. This procedure helps the powder to create a bacteriostatic environment also allows the salt to absorb the extra moisture.
- After 24hrs, remove the lid and gently mix the Mangoes smeared with Pickle powder with a clean, dry wooden spoon.
- You can notice one or two mango pieces have already stared to shrink near the edges.
- Pour the sesame oil straight into the bottle until the oil level stands atleast one inch above the Pickled layer.
- Close the lid tight and leave it back again in a cool and dry place. The Mangoes take 15 days to completely soak,shrink and take up the flavours.
- There are some Standard rules for Pickling and these rules are always expected to be obeyed. By following these, the shelf life of Pickle can be increased.
- Always start your Pickling activity during the day time and wind it up before 6 '0' clock in the evening. This has been an ageold practice as our ancestors believed that infestation due to microbes and contamination through rodents and pests was high after sunset.
- Always shower before and after Pickling. It is important to keep ourselves clean as hands and body parts are also sources of contamination.
- The body generally tends to have a burning sensation after Pickling. So it is adviced to shower after the Pickling to minimize the heat caused due to spices and chilli powder.
- Always use a clean wooden or ceramic laddle while handling pickle. Better to use one exclusively for this purpose.
- It is mandatory to stir and mix the Pickle daily . This has to be done first in the morning after showering and before starting other household activities.
- Stirring and mixing can be continued on a daily basis for one month and then can be done once in two days. This helps in uniform mixing of Oil and spices with the vegetable and prevents the growth of surface microorganisms.
- Another tip to lengthen the shelf life of Pickles is by transferring required quantities from the main jar into small pickle jars that can be used on table. The above said rules are applicable even for this.
lovely .. wish i could just taste them...
ReplyDeleteThank you. Come to Singapore. I ll defenitely treat you
Deletelip smacking one,had lots when I was in Hyderabad...tempting to try,Soumya :)
ReplyDeleteThankie
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