Carrot Cauliflower Pachadi

For the day 5 of the marathon, I made carrot cauliflower pachadi or pickle or thokku. As I mentioned on the first day of the marathon, we have an option of doing two themes. The first four days of the marathon, I did the theme “cooking with 5 or less ingredients” and for the last three days, I am doing the condiments. I have not decided what I am going to post for the last two days of the marathon, but today it is a pickle recipe.

As I child, all I ate was pickles and refused to eat any curries. I like hot and spicy food and pickles were my favorite. As I grew up, I gradually cut down on the pickles and started eating everything. I still like and eat pickles but not as much as I use to. I like this pickle in particular because it goes very well with oatmeal. The crunchy pickled vegetables make the tasteless oatmeal palatable. One of my aunts made this pickle and I liked it instantly. I made it at home and adjusted the spices to my liking, less spices and more vegetables. I cut the carrots and cauliflower into small pieces and added the right amount of spices & masala to just coat the vegetables. If one likes more spices or masala, the quantity of the spices can be increased. The quantities I mentioned below are for a pickle with more vegetables and less masala. Adjust the vegetables and masala to your liking.

Ingredients:

• 1 ½ cups chopped carrots
• 1 ½ cups chopped cauliflower (cut into small pieces)
• 3 ½ – 4 tbsp. Chili Powder (adjust to taste)
• 1 ½ 1 ¾ tbsp. Salt (adjust to taste)
• 6 ½ tbsp. dry roasted Sesame Seeds Powder
• 1 tsp. dry roasted Methi or Fenugreek powder
• 1 ½ tsp. Mustard Powder
• 1/3 – ½ cups Lime Juice (less than ½ cups and adjust to taste)
• 7 tbsp. Oil
• 1 tsp. Cumin
• 1 tsp. Mustard Seeds
• 2-3 Curry leaves
• 1 Dry Chili
• 1 tsp. crushed Garlic (opt. I did not use it this time)
• Turmeric

Preparation:

• Wash, peel and chop the carrots into 1/3 – ½ “pieces. You would need 4-5 medium carrots. Break the cauliflower into florets and wash them. Cut each floret into small pieces. You will need about 4-5 florets.

  

• Line a baking sheet or a wide plate with paper towels and spread the vegetables on it. Let the vegetables dry for couple of hours, just to make sure there is no moisture or water on the vegetables.
• Mix chili powder, sesame seed powder, mustard powder, methi powder, salt and lime juice in a big bowl.  Taste the mixture and adjust the spices;salt, chili powder, lime juice and sesame powder to taste.
• Add the vegetables and mix well.
• In pan, heat oil for the tempering. When the oil is hot, add cumin and mustard, and let the seeds pop.
• Add curry leaves, dry chilies and when they are roasted, add garlic & turmeric. Turn of the heat.
• When the oil/tempering cools, add it to the vegetable mixture and mix well. Cover the bowl and keep it side. After a day, or overnight, the spices and lime juices will soak into the vegetables and is ready to dig in. I noticed that bigger the vegetable pieces, longer it takes for the vegetables to get pickled.

Notes/Suggestion:

• I cut carrots and cauliflowers into small pieces but you can cut them to the size you like.
• If one likes mustardy pickles, adjust the sesame powder and mustard accordingly. Reduce the quantity of sesame powder and increase the quantity of mustard powder.
• Can substitute carrots & cauliflower with ivy gourd~dondakaya~tindora for ivy gourd pickle

This day in 2008: Poori, Pitla & Tomato Shorva