Hello readers and welcome to my first post. The first of several more to come, I hope. I gave some thought to what I wanted the first post to be. I wanted it to be ethnic and something that was not too common or well known. I also wanted something that was interesting enough to hold my readers’ attention, since I am not yet one of the blogging elite :|. Something spicy and healthy that would be good for you.
I stumbled into my local Indian grocery store as I was pondering over all this, and what do I see in front of me? A huge box of FRESH turmeric! Turmeric ( Hindi: Haldi) is a spice or condiment which is very commonly used in Indian cooking. Apart from giving curry its yellow colour, it has tons of other advantages – antiseptic, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory, to name a few. It is part of the typical ingredients present in any Indian pantry’s spice box, and is used in almost every dish. We all remember the turmeric paste our moms and grandmas put on our scraped bloody knees, bruises, tooths etc. I am sure a lot of you will also remember the Vicco turmeric ad explaining how ‘turmeric’ gave ‘Banno’ her creamy complexion. I fondly remember those good old college days when a primitive besan and haldi face pack was your lifesaver before any impromptu party. Enough said about all these nostalgic references.
Turmeric contains the antioxidant curcumin which has a variety of advantages. It is supposed to be very good for you and improves heart health, lipid numbers, Alzheimer’s, arthritis, inflammation, various forms of cancer etc. Some good detail can be found here and here. Google will also come up with any more info needed.
The turmeric you get in the store is dried and ground to powder, but there is also a ‘fresh’ form which looks very much like ginger from the outside. Turmeric pickle is a popular family recipe, mostly because it is something so different and tastes great. Also, you can feel good about it since it has all the inherent medicinal properties. Some might argue that the words ‘pickle’ and ‘healthy’ do not go together, and I agree to some extent. But you can control the salt and oil added as much as you want by substituting with more lemon juice and vinegar. Also, since this is ‘hot’, the most a person eats at a time is maybe a tsp or less. I also make it in small batches so not much salt is needed. This is not like your ancient year long pickle in earthen jars, that had to have tons of salt to last for several years. Refrigeration also reduces the salt needed.
If you are not used to having turmeric in your food, the taste can be a bit strong and pungent at first. But I hope that you try this out and come to like it. Other uses I am working on are making some kind of chutney, and adding it fresh grated to vegetables, soups etc. to increase the nutrient value. The recipe follows –
Ingredients
- Turmeric - 2 cups grated
- 2 teaspoons - mustard powder
- 2 teaspoons - methi (fenugreek) powder
- 2 tablespoons - cayenne pepper
- 1 teaspoon - salt or to taste
- 1/2 teaspoon - sugar
- 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
- 1/4 cup oil
Method
- Peel the turmeric with a vegetable peeler and grate it. You can also use a food processor.
- Heat some oil and let it cool a bit.
- Mix all the spice powders given above and put about 1 tablespoon of oil from above and mix it up. Do not use hot oil as it will give a bitter taste to the mustard.
- Mix this spice mixture with the grated turmeric, and put it in an air tight bottle or jar.
- Add the lemon juice and remaining oil and mix well.You can later add more oil, or more lemon juice/vinegar as needed if you want more 'juice' to this.
- Let this pickle marinate for 2-3 days before serving.
- Enjoy!
Hi, a brand called Mother’s Recipe used to have a turmeric pickle – I think they’ve discontinued it since. It was v tasty.
There’s a recipe for turmeric chutney somewhere in the blogs – I tried it but it didn’t work for me. Welcome to the food blog world!
A very cordial welcome to you, SRA, as the first visitor of my blog, and thanks much.
I have seen one pickle from Sanjeev Kapoor/ Laxmi, I forget which, that mostly seems to be turmeric slices in brine. It does take some getting used to, like i said, but you can tone down the flavour using spices..
Maybe you will be courageous enough to try this? or I have to present further stuff that will be more interesting to you 🙂
Thanks once again !!
Hi,
I have never heard of tumeric pickle before. And I have some fresh tumeric at home. will try out for sure and let you know how it turns out. I am a beginner when cooking is considered, so could you tell me if the cayenne pepper is the ordinary red chilly powder itself or something different? Thanks
hey pratibha,
welcome to my blog and thanks very much for leaving a comment.
Yes, cayenne pepper is nothing but ordinary mirchi powder or chilli powder. You can use any kind that you get e.g you get different types in India.. The chilli powder is of course just a general measure. You can use a little bit more if you like it really hot, or a bit less if you do not want it too hot. Of course, the heat level also depends on the kindof chilli powder you have, quality etc. Hope i have not confused you too much 🙂 The measures given here are good as a starting point..
Please do let me know how it turns out and if you like it.
bye..
Hi Praggie,
What a wonderful recipe and not to mention very nice writing, pictures and lots of love.
Looking forward to your next recipe!! Love, Dhana
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I Don know abt this pickle. I have heard dis for 1st time. I will try this achar .
Tried a sweet and spicy pickle just two days ago at a friends place.. was absolutely Yummy..
It was a mix of Turmeric, Green chillies and raw mango, all finely chopped… jaggery was used for the sweet taste, one would obviously not need to add cayenne papper since green chillies are already in… no lemon required either since Raw mango gives it the required tang…the rest i.e Mustard Powder, Salt, some fenugreek seeds, oil remain the same…
Try it, I loved it, hope u all enjoy it too 🙂
Sounds really yummy…great to see you here, Rashmi!
Yeah.. And i loved ur website…. 🙂