Turmeric Pickle

Turmeric Pickle


Who said medicines have to be bitter or have horrible taste? I strongly believe that the first medicine we all should believe in is our food. The way we all seem to have evolved, we would not really ingest stuff that are not tasty so packaging healthy and nutritive food attractively, not just appearance wise but taste wise is very important. This has been my motto ever since I started cooking in my kitchen and I do hope that readers of the blog have been able to see that. One of the most important and beneficial ingredients in Indian cuisine is turmeric. Typically used in the powder form, it is actually a perennial rhizome. Many would have commonly seen it during Pongal festival as it is usually tied by a thread to the special pot used to make the Pongal. I have written in greater detail about turmeric in this article. I noticed a fellow blogger had posted a fresh turmeric pickle recipe and then it occurred to me that I should try something with this wonderful ingredient. Now that I am in a place with better access to Indian ingredients including fresh vegetables, I got my hands on fresh turmeric. I wanted to stick to a rather South Indian version as that would go down better in my household. I had some ideas in mind and in the interest of time and energy, took a few shortcuts and came up with this recipe. What I really like about this recipe is that unlike most pickles, it does not need an awful lot of oil and is primarily preserved in lime juice. I also did not use much salt to keep it safe for people with blood pressure problems. Ensure you store it in a clean dry container. Keeping it out under the sun for a couple of days is said to augment its flavour and prolong the life. My pickle is going down fast so I am not too concerned about its life! Please note that turmeric is used as a dye as well so when you chop it, it is likely to stain anything it touches. Make sure to lay few papers down on the counter before chopping. It will stain the hands as well, some say this could be avoided by applying some oil before chopping but the stain on teh hand will go away in a couple of days. Here is the recipe...

1 cup chopped turmeric rhizome
1 teaspoon fenugreek powder
3-4 tablespoon oil
1 ½ teaspoons chilly powder
Salt to taste
Juice from about 6 limes
½ teaspoon ginger powder
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
asafoetida
Heat some oil and add the mustard seeds. Once it splutters, add the fenugreek powder, chilly powder, asafoetida

Add the turmeric and rest of the oil and required salt and cook in low flame for about 5 minutes. Then add the ginger powder

Cool for a few minutes and add the lime juice

Store in a clean air tight container