Mama’s Punjabi Recipes – Gajjar ka Achar (Carrot Pickles)

Gajar ka Achar (Carrot Pickles)

Mama Recipe -1

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Punjabis love to eat their food with some sort of condiments – whether it be pickles, chutneys, white radishes or just plain raw onions – to get the last bit of maaza (enjoyment) out of each mouthful. Since the time of my ancestral home in Lyallpur, when our families had large lands that were cultivated and our lives were more rural, the womenfolk in the home used to make their own pickles, usually amb da achar (mango pickle) in sarson da tael (mustard seed oil) or mitha achar (sweet and sour vegetable pickle).
There were even ways to get the sting out of raw onions and radishes. My husband’s grandmother (whom we called bhabhi) would peel the white radishes, coat it with salt, pierce it with a sharp knife stick it on the side of a wooden post to let the onion drip out its water. She would also peel the onions and leave them in the rain to become sweeter. In Punjabi villages, men will squash the onion with their hand and squeeze the water out before eating it.
Here is a really simple way to make gajar ka achar (carrot pickle) to eat as a condiment. It’s not oily like mango pickle and for a healthier pickle, you can reduce the salt as you want.

Ingredients:
•  1 kg lal gajar (red carrots)
•  1 tablespoon rai powder  (mustard seed powder)
•  1 tablespoon namak (salt)
•  1 tablespoon lal mirch powder (red pepper powder)
•  1 tablespoon tael (vegetable  or olive oil)
•  1 tablespoon sirka (white vinegar)

Directions:
1. Peel the carrots, then wash and towel dry them.
2. Cut the carrots lengthwise in thin 2 inch long sticks.
3. Throw the carrot sticks in a glass jar and then add the spices to taste and the oil.
4. Close the jar and shake well. Now add the vinegar, close the lid and shake well again.
5.  Place the jar in the sun and shake the contents two or three times a day for a week. The pickles will be ready to eat and as they will become tastier the longer they stay in the marinade. Be sure to shake the contents from time to time so that the marinade does not settle in one place.
6. Since this pickle is not cooked, to avoid it going bad, keep in the refrigerator and consume within a month.

Nimboo aur Adrak ka Achar (Lemon and Ginger Pickles)

Mama Recipe -2

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ginger is one of the main ingredients in Punjabi cooking, but it can also eaten by itself in pickle form or in the powdered form in spiced tea. Apart from its unique taste, ginger helps with the digestive process and reduces gas in the stomach. When used with black salt, ginger is used to help with nausea or to help cure the common cold.
In the old days, and even now in villages, ginger would be peeled and then dried in the sun so that it could be used later when it was not easily available.  Ginger is also peeled and made into a paste to use in the preparation of various meat dishes or to make some vegetarian dishes. But generally, it is cut into small pieces and used when preparing the base masala of dishes.
This is another really simple way to make an achar (pickle) but in this, due to the spicy taste of the ginger you do not use any haldi (turmeric) or lal mirch (red pepper). When made with nimboos (lemons), it has a really summery feel. If you prefer, you can add long, hari mirchain (green chilies) too: just wash, towel dry, score them with a slit and place them in the jar. In Texas, you can improvise by using jalapenos, either sliced or whole with slits. You can reduce the salt as you want in this achar.  This achar does not need to be refrigerated and kept for a long time.

Ingredients:
• 1 kg nimboo (lemons)
• 500 gm adrak (ginger root)
• 2 tablespoon namak (salt)
• 1 tablespoon of chini (white sugar)
• 1 cup sirka (white vinegar)

Directions:
1.   Wash the lemons, then wash and towel dry them. Cut then lemons into four quarters. If the lemons are small, then cut into halves.
2. Peel the ginger root, then wash and also towel dry them. Cut the roots lengthwise in thin 2 inch long sticks.
3. Throw the ginger sticks and lemon halves into a glass jar and then add the salt.
4.    Close the jar and shake well. Now add the vinegar and sugar, close the lid and shake well again.
5.   Place the jar in the sun and shake the contents two or three times a day for a week. The pickles will be ready to eat and they will become tastier the longer they stay in the marinade. Shake the contents from time to time.

MAMA'S 2Shakuntla Malhotra is a skilled cook of Punjabi dishes made in the old-fashioned style that she learnt as a young woman in her ancestral home in Lyallpur, India before it became part of Pakistan after the Partition in 1947. People have often admired her cooking for its simplicity and taste that comes with each mouthful. Even in her mid-eighties, she continues to cook daily and agreed to share some of her delectable Punjabi recipes.