Apple Thokku/Pickle

Dear Foodies,

All of you have heard the oft spoken adage - An apple a day keeps the doctor away. I have too, but the apples that I see on the store shelves all year long just don't seem worth it. For a month or so I tried eating them as an afternoon snack, but though I bought organic apples, they still did not taste great. It was eating for eating sake with no real apple flavor in those pieces. Sometimes I forget to use up the last one or two and the apples seem to look the same for weeks! I cannot put trust in fresh fruit that refuses to rot for that long and so I almost stopped buying any more apples. The only form that I have them in my pantry is as applesauce that I use for baking and in smoothies.

The best apples I had in recent times were the ones in Julian, Ca. They also make the best apple pie you'll ever eat. Fresh apples from the farm, cooked just right and served while still warm from the oven == absolute bliss. But that is not the what I want to talk about today..the reason I brought up the topic of apples is when I bit into a Granny Smith it got me excited about apples again. The tart, crisp and juicy Granny Smiths reminded me of the raw mangoes that filled my Indian summers. Cut in slivers, dusted with some salt & chilli powder, gobbled up just as soon as I got my hands on them were our snack through the summer. We had a mango tree in our backyard and the sight of the first mangoes of the season was a celebration. Their tartness makes you pucker up and no matter how much you try you cannot stop yourself from having more.

After the best raw mangoes were set aside for the famous batch of Andhra avakaya, the rest promptly got turned into fresh cut mango pickle and my favorite, thokku to satiate our pickle cravings. Finely grated mangoes are cooked to get the moisture out and then seasoned with typical pickle ingredients like mustard fenugreek, salt and red chilli powder. I could have it with rice & curd, dosa's, chapati or just by itself :) The crisp Granny Smiths brought back all those great memories and I instantly set on the task of turning them into a thokku. They work great also in terms of texture since this variety holds up to cooking. The result was fabulous, and I am thrilled that I no longer have to look for raw green mangoes in the store anymore. And even if I do, I am sure they'll be gone before I can think of cooking them.

I used my mandoline to grate the apples to get them fine enough for the thokku but still not as fine that they turn to pulp. Always use the safety holder when using a mandoline, the blades on those are extra sharp and it won't take more than a second to have your skin scraped off or worse! Unfortunately, I learned from experience :( Just a day after I had moved to SD along with V, I brought out the mandoline to grate a chunk of coconut. In my hurry, I ignored the safety holder and instead of grated coconut I had shaved off a piece of skin on my finger...very painful, so please take care.

Granny Smith Apple Thokku

Prep time: 15-20mins

Cooking time: 15mins

Ingredients:

• 1 nos - Granny Smith Apple, grated
• 1 nos - dried Red Chilli
• 1/2 tsp - Mustard seeds
• 1/4 tsp - Fenugreek powder (lightly toast seeds & powder)
• 1-1.5 tsp - Red Chilli Powder (adjust to taste)
• 1/4 tsp - Turmeric powder
• pinch of Hing/Asafoetida 
• 2-3 Tbsp - Gingelly/Sesame Oil (untoasted)
• Salt to taste (~ 1tsp kosher salt)

Method:

1. Heat sesame oil in a non-reactive saute pan, toss in mustard seeds and once they begin to splutter add dried red chilli, breaking it into pieces.
2. Add hing, turmeric and then grated apple to the oil and cook until the moisture in the apple is cooked out, about 6-8 mins. Its done when the grated apple comes together as one mass and oil starts to separate and collect around the corners.
3. Turn off the heat, add fenugreek powder, red chili powder and mix well. Once cooled store in a dry, airtight container and refrigerate. 

Notes: To make fresh fenugreek powder, lightly toast the seeds in a dry pan until fragrant and grind to a fine powder once cooled. I got twice the amount you see in the photographs from one apple. This is still a fresh pickle, so make it in small quantities and refrigerate. When you can find raw green mangoes use the same method to make mango thokku.

I loved it. I had it with curd rice, the absolute best pairing there could be. The next day I had it on crackers and some soft cheese spread as an evening snack. I also spread it on bread while making a burger sandwich for dinner. Its so addictive that once you make it you will come with many more creative ways to sneak it into every single meal you eat. Its been a while since I had the original thokku with raw mangoes to make an exact comparison, but this one surely wasn't lacking in flavor. With apples on almost all grocery stores shelves there is hardly any excuse to not make it.  

Red Chilli Pickle - Pandu Mirapakaaya Pachadi

Dear Foodies,

I know, I know...its a pickle and the main ingredient is red chillies :)) Now thats a signature Andhra dish I think :D We do love the heat in our food guys ! My friends and I frequently get the "You are from Andhra..." thing when we say Hot or 6/6 for spice level at Indian restaurants. Its definitely in the soil I must say :D So, when I went to India last time I had my mom pack a small packet of pandu mirapakaya pickle (Ripe red chilli pickle) for me. But as fate would have it, I lost an entire suitcase on my way back and like a perfect example for Murphy's Law all the best pickles, my moms home made mixture and the handicrafts I bought were in that unfortunate baggage. And since I had very thoughtfully(!!) distributed the salwars and kameezs between the two suitcases, I was left with useless halves to haunt me:)) I cannot tell you what it feels like to have just the salwar/kameez or worse just the dupatta of your most fav chudidhar and loosing your first (and most fav) saree :(( The saree was the perfect red chilli color :( ( I told you its everywhere :P)

Well, so basically I could not get the pickle and the ones sold in the Indian store though good lacked the freshness & punch of home made pickle. When I read this post in Anusharaji's blog I was really thrilled. Raji made the pickle using fresno peppers (FREZ-noh) locally available at the grocery store. I was thrilled to find a recipe ! The next time we went veggie shopping I looked for them and found the plump red chillies obediently waiting to be pickled. I made it along with Kichadi the day before our move and the pairing was perfect. I was also surprised by the ease of the recipe. It hardly took me 15 mins...so much for the 1.5 yr wait !!! Thank you so much Raji :)

I made slight variations and adjustments to suit the near empty kitchen I had then.

Ingredients:

• 5 nos -Ripe Red chillies/Fresno peppers
• 1 tsp - Fenugreek seeds
• 1 tsp - Mustard seeds
• 1/2 tsp - Tamarind extract
• a pinch of hing/asafoetida
• Salt to taste
• 2 tsp - Oil

Method:

1. Wash and wipe the peppers dry. Since I was not planning on using the blender I finely chopped them. Otherwise just rough chop them.
2. Dry roast the fenugreek seeds and then heat the oil and saute the peppers for a few minutes until they get tender. Allow it to cool. I used ready-made tamarind extract from the fridge and so heated it along with the peppers for the last 30sec.
   
3. Now transfer the all the ingredients to a blender and pulse to get a coarse paste. If using a pestle & mortar first crush the fenugreek and mustard seeds, then add the rest of the ingredients and crush.

This fresh pachadi was superb. It was very very close to the one we get back home and I absolutely loved it. The peppers were not as hot as I had expected them to be so I added a pinch of red chilli powder for the extra kick :P I also loved the texture that was the result of using a pestle and mortar. If you guys can I would recommend this method over the blender. This pickle was also the perfect match to the mellow kichadi I made. This recipe yields just about a cup of pachadi, not much at all and so it got done even before the kichadi :D Unfortunately these peppers are not so each to find near where I live. I got it at Kroger the first time but after that I went back twice and also checked at other branches but could not find them, Walmart does not stock them either :(

Tidbit: When you are done working with hot peppers/chillies/chilli powder rub & wash your hands with some yogurt/buttermilk. This will take off all the chilli juice and soothe your skin. Soap does not do a perfect job and your skin continues to feel irritated even after repeated washing. I learnt this tip from my aunt who is one the best food enthusiasts I have met.

This one too is for Coffee to preserve and a special package is off to Nandita's Hot theme for JFI this month: JFI-Chillies and a huge Thank you to Indira for getting the JFI event rolling !

and it is ...Mango-Ginger

Dear Foodies,

Mavadi Allam/InjiManga

Like a few of you have rightly guessed, the pic above is of Mango-ginger/ Mavadi-allam/ InjiManga. It belongs to the Ginger family and has the smell and taste of a raw mango. I must say its a terrific combo of flavors. It was a hard to find root even in Hyderabad, but my father did manage to unearth (;)) them quite a few times at the market and my mom made this simple pickle with it that I learnt to love. This was a last thing I expected to find at the Indian grocery store near my new apartment. They already had veggies I had long forgotten and shoved out of my memory as unavailable in Cincinnati and to find this was a huge surprise and a shock too. I grabbed a handful of them and called up my mom to ask her for the recipe. I am not even sure you need to use a word as big as 'recipe' for this preparation :) Do make it if you get lucky like me, it has one of the most refreshing tastes' you'll find .

From the comments I have noticed that its unclear whether Mango-ginger belongs to the turmeric or the ginger family. Foodie and Madhavi said its from the turmeric family. I did a google search and just got further confused. This was the only website I found that said it is a turmeric. All the others say its a ginger. Mango Ginger's botanical name is Curcuma amada and it belongs to the family Zingiberaceae . Now to make it even more confusing, a few websites state the species name to be mangga and not amada, Wiki doing both (Here and Here) But one thing is certain that turmeric also is from the genus Curcuma. Well if Wiki is to be believed then it is form the ginger family, infact when you look up turmeric, its mentioned as belonging to the ginger family.

Curcuma mangga (mango ginger) is a plant of the ginger family Zingiberaceae and is closely related to turmeric. The rhizomes are very similar to ginger but have a raw mango taste. They are used in making pickles in south India. - From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

But no matter what the name, the flower is surely a beauty, no contest there. See for yourself ! Never knew ginger flower's so well !!

Recipe:
2 cups - Mango-Ginger; scrubbed, peeled and diced
4 nos - Green chillies, finely chopped (or per taste)
2 Tbsp - Lime juice (adjust to your liking)
Salt to taste

In a jar add all the above ingredients together and toss. It shud be ready to eat in a few hours :)
I store it in a refrigerator and bring it out only when serving. I think it will last for a month or more, not sure about it though, will confirm it with my mom.

See, I told ya, no "recipe" there. And as you might have noticed, everything is to suit your taste, no hard and fast rules here. My roomie was newly introduced to this cousin of ginger and she loved him ;) My other friends were as thrilled as I was to find this here. Do give it a try if you find some, this pickle has such a refreshing taste that you will munch on it just plain. I love it the best with curd rice or dal+rice. But before all this I had to first stop myself from eating it raw while chopping it :))

This one is for Coffee as the prize for it guessing right, go ahead and Preserve it :))