Ginger pickle - allam pacchadi

Ginger is among easily available ingredients across the globe. Pickle lovers who wouldn't mind spending half an hour in the kitchen can make this yummy pacchadi at home. It is a lot better than buying a pricey bottle of any name brand pickle oozing stale smelling oil (The foot print aspect is an add-on). This recipe is fairly simple. I am not sure where I learnt this from (probably my amma).

I made it for the first time while in pune and have been making it for family and friends ever since. I should admit I am a huge fan of (Indian style) pickles. My versions require far less amount of oil and taste as good, or maybe better. This reminds of me Juhi Chawla's ad which sells a pickle with lot less oil in the bottle. The ad is kind of funny and markets the product as a healthier, less fat version. It is a fairly new concept for conventional cooks. And thats my kind of recipe!


Main ingredients include fresh ginger, jaggery, tamarind and chillies and chilli powder.

What you need!

Ginger - 100 gm / 1 cup (grated)
Jaggery - 100 gm / 1 cup grated
Tamarind - 50 gm / lemon sized
Oil (olive/sunflower) - 4tbsp
Salt to taste
chilli powder - Avakkai three mango brand - 1 tbsp
Dry red chillies - 5/6

garlic - 5/6 pods (optional)
Coriander seeds - 1 tbsp
fenugreek seeds - 1 tsp
mustard seeds- 1/2 tsp
Urad dal - 1 tsp
Chana dal - 1 tsp
Curry leaves - 5 /6
Hing (asafoetida)- a pinch

Process:

• soak tamarind in just enough water
• wash and grate the ginger and dry roast it for a minute or so (till u get a hint of its aroma). Let it cool.
• dry roast coriander seeds, fenugreek seeds, mustard (half the quantity), chillies, chana and urad dal  one after the other separately. Dry roastthe garlic cloves separately (optional)
  
• Grind the  above ingredients to a fine powder. Keep it aside
• Grind ginger and soaked tamarind together into a fine paste.
  
• now add the powdered ingredients to the mixture and grind wet and dry ingredients together
• Heat oil in a kadai and add the other half of mustard and fenugreek seeds, then add curry leaves and asafoetida. 
• Once the mustard crackles and fenugreek turns golden brown, add the ingredients from the blender jar and saute it with chilli powder. Add the garlic (optional) now (we grind it into paste separately)
  
• Keep the flame on low and "cook" the pacchadi until you can sense the aroma of the pickle's yummy goodness!
• Let it cool and store it in an air tight glass jar.
• this pickle can retain its freshness for over three months if left outside and maybe longer if stored in the refrigerator.
  

Voila...you have ur home made allam pacchadi to go with a plate of idli or rice. I love it with thayir sadam. ah!

I tried using sundried mango pieces or kokam instead of tamarind. It worked well  both the times. Dry mango version tasted yummier!..Do try it. Ginger is known for its digestive and anti inflammatory properties. It is a great way to bring in the goodness of ginger into your diet. Other goodies such as puli inji, fresh inji thuvayal are also equally tummy friendly sidies. I will try posting about these two dishes in detail.

take care