One of my favourite pickle!!! I just love to the core. Many of the people like mango or lemon pickle and my vote is always for this Narthangai / Citron pickle. That too the pickle which my Appayi makes!!! Shankar never eats pickle! and am just opposite! Since no one eats, I never strain myself to make it for myself. I always buy a stored one, that too I look for only citron. Everytime whenever I go Amma's home, I ask my appayi to make it. Am always hungry for my Appayi's oorugai :-)
Couple of weeks before we went to our friend's Shankari's home and she gave me a citron pickle which she made it with dates. Wow....it was just yumm....Scrumptious! I asked her the recipe and she offered me that she will make it for me :-) Also, when she said that she got the narthangai from here!...What......I could not even believe it! She got it from her friend's home grown narthangai and in a week time she got me 5 of that :-) Thank you so much Shankari for the delicious Narthangai!
This time I wanted to try my Appayi recipe and I would love to make it with dates! Maybe next year! Shankari please reserve some narthangai for me too!
INGREDIENTS:
Narthangai / Citron - 5 nos
Salt - 1/4 cup
Red chilli powder - 1/4 cup or as needed
Fenugreek powder - 1 tsp
Hing / Asafoetida - 1/2 tsp
Gingelly oil - 1/4 cup
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
HOW TO MAKE:
Wash Narthangai and wipe it with a clean dry cloth or paper towel. Make sure that it has no moisture. (I forgot to take the picture of that. Sorry about that). Cut Narthangai into small pieces (remove the seeds) and put it in a ceramic jar. Add salt and shake the jar well ensure that the salt coated with all the pieces. Close the lid and keep aside.
Twice a day, morning and evening shake the jar and repeat the same for next 4 to 5 days. Do not even touch by hand and use spoon to mix if it needed. At the end of 5th day you may find the pieces are soft and its colour changed. If it is not soft, then keep it for one or two days more.
When it is soft and ready to make, use the ladle and take out all the narthangai pieces and keep aside. You could see the juice at the bottom (not a lot), keep that aside.
Heat oil in a kadai splutter mustard seeds. Add red chilli powder, roasted fenugreek powder and asafoetida. Mix well and add the narthangai juice. Blend well and in a minute you could see the bubbles.
When it starts bubbling add narthangai pieces. Blend all the ingredients and ensure that the mixture covered with the pieces.
Keep it in a low flame for 3 to 4 minutes. Do not cook for more time. Its already soaked and soft. Overcook result mushy. In 2 to 3 mins the mixture leaves the oil in a side. Turn off the stove and allow to cool down. Store it in a clean dry jar. It stays up to 3 to 4 months. Keep refrigerated. Use dry spoon always.
TIPS:
Always use clean dry spoon to help pickle to stay long.
Turmeric powder can be added too. My grandma said, she does not use either turmeric powder or curry leaves.
Do not worry if you are not having roasted fenugreek powder. Dry roast the fenugreek and make a fine powder out of it.
When you add salt, you can add turmeric too.
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