Mackerel fish Pickle a Kerala Recipe

Ingredients needed for the Mackerels Pickle
 3 Mackerel fishes
1/2 inch Ginger, chopped
8 garlic flakes , chopped
4 Green Chillies, chopped
2 tsps Chilly powder
Coconut Oil - enough for frying,
4 tbsp White Vinegar

Marinade for the fish
 3 tsp chilli powder
 3 tsps ginger and garlic paste
3/4 tsp fennel seed powder
 1 tsp turmeric powder
Salt to taste

How to prepare Mackerel fish pickle?
Clean and wash the fish nicely. Cut the mackerels in to small sized pieces.
Prepare the marinade by mixing the ingredients with a little vinegar, Apply the masala on to the fish pieces and keep in the refrigerator  for an hour.
After an hour in the refrigerator shallow fry the fish pieces in coconut oil and keep aside.
In the remaining oil, add the chopped garlic, ginger, green chillies and curry leaves.  Fry toll they are golden.
Add the white vinegar andthe 2 tsps chilli powder and let the mix boil for a minute or two.
Add the fried fish pieces  and mix well.
Remove from the flame and kepp covered till it gets cool. Then store in the refrigerator as and when needed.

Recipe of the Irumban Puli Achar in Kerala style

Ingredients needed for the Irumban Puli Achar
 1 kilo Irumban Puli
 100 grams salt
75 grams chilli powder
10 grams Uluva podi
10 gram kaya podi
2 tsps mustard
50 ml nallenna

How to prepare the Irumbanpuli Achar?:
 Cut each and every irumban puli in to quarters.
Dry the pieces  in the sun for a day.
Heat oil in a fry pan splutter mustard.
As the mustard splutters, add asfoetida, salt, chilli powder and uluva podi. Mix well.
When the raw smell goes, add the irumban puli pieces.
Mix well and remove from fire. Do not let it cook in the fire.

Tangy and Spicy Mango Garlic Pickle

Ingredients needed Tangy and Spicy Mango Garlic Pickle
4 cups  raw mango grated
1 cup red chilli powder
3/4 cup salt or as per taste
1 cup oil
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 cup garlic
1/2 tsp asafoetida powder
1 1/2 tsps cumin seeds roasted and powdered
1 1/2 tsps Fenugreek seeds roasted and powdered

 How to prepare Tangy and Spicy Mango Garlic Pickle
 Mix grated mango , red chilli powder and salt to taste in a bowl and mix well.
Heat gingelly oil in a non stick fry pan and splutter mustard seeds.
Add peeled whole garlic and saute till they are soft. Add asafoetida powder roasted cumin and fenugreek powders  and mix well.
Add grated mango and mix well. Cover and keep for a minute.
When cool store in a dry bottle  and leave it for a day or two to mature before using.

Points to Note: 
Always use a new dry spoon whenever you take pickle from the bottle.
Also see that a layer of oil stands above the pickle in the bottle.

The Recipe for Lime Pickle / Cherunaranga Achar

Ingredients needed for Lime Pickle / Cherunaranga Achar  (Kerala Style))
1 kilo Cheru Naranga  / Lemons / Limes
100 grams  chilli powder
20 grams Asafoetida
20 grams fenugreek powder
20 grams gingelly oil / sesame oil
3 tablespoon salt ( Rock salt )

How to prepare the tasty Lime pickle?
Heat oil in a fry pan, saute the limes . Afte some minutes you will be able to see juice spurting from the limes.
Remove from fire and let cool.
Cut these limes into 8 pieces and put them into the same pan. Add salt, chilli powder, fenugreek powder and asafoetida powder to the cut pieces of lime. Mix well and store in airtight containers.

Points to Note:
You have to see that not a drop of water is there in the spoons and vessels which you use for making pickles.
Another important point to note is that you can take only a little from the bottle or the container and always use a clean and dry spoon for taking pickles.
Do not keep opening all the pickle bottles, you have prepared, one after the other, even to check how the pickles are going on.
Do not use Iron pans for making Lime pickles.

How to prepare Amla / Nellikka Achar at Home?

Amla in Hindi, Gooseberry in English and Nellikka in Malayalam and Tamil are one and the same.  The gooseberries have a lot of nutrition in them.Make the pickle when you get them frsh and use it as a sie dish daily.

Ingredients needed for Nellikka Achar:
1 kilo Amla fruit
1 cup  Chilly powder
1 tsp  Turmeric powder
1/2 tsp Asafoetida powder
1/2 tsp Fenugreek roasted and powdered
1 cup til / Gingelly Oil
To temper
Mustard seeds – as required
Salt – as required
Curry leaves - a little

How to prepare Nellikka Achar at Home?
Take a wide bottommed vessel with enough water to immerse the Gooseberries. Add salt to taste and turmeric powder. Bring the water to boil.
Add the gooseberries to the water, cover and simmer for about 5 - 8 mintes or till the gooseberries change colour and get tender.
Let cool, drain and keep the liquid separately.
Remove the seeds  from the gooseberries. This can be done by just passing the knife through and cutting the berries to small chunks.
Heat oil, splutter mustard. Add curry leaves, asafoetida powder, fenugreek powder and the chilli powder. Once a nice aroma starts coming add the drained liquid  and let it come to boil. Check for salt and add if needed. Add Gooseberry chunks to this and mix well. Simmer for a minute. Remove from fire and let cool.
When cool store in the bottle.

Points to Note:
This pickle cannot be stored for a long time. In the refrigerator this Nellikka achar will stay for a  month, if you are careful about the way you handle the pickle.
Take a little of the pickle at a time and that tooo use only clean and dry spoon.

Use  the big sized whole Nellikka for this pickle.  The small ones known as vedi nellikka  can also be made into pickles using the same recipe.

How to prepare Kannimanga Achar, Kerala style?

This Kannimanga pickles / Achar uses small tender mangoes  which are the tender ones of the usual sour mangoes and not of the small variety of mangoes.


Ingredients needed for the Kannimanga Achar
1 kilo Small green tender mangoes ( Kanni manga)
3/4 cup mustard
50 grams red chilli powder
1/4 cup mustard oil
1/2 tsp Asafoetida Powder
1 cup salt

How to prepare Kannimanga Achar:
Wash and clean the small, tender mangoes /  kanni manga with its stem.
Drain the water completely and wipe with a towel. Remove the stems from the mangoes. Keep the small mangoes whole.
Mix salt and the mangoes together in a bottle or a Bharani ( Ceramic jar ) and cover it nicely with a cloth and tie it up.
Leave it like that for about 15 days.
In between open the bharani on the 3rd, 4th ,6th and 8th days, shake the Bharani  well, to toss the mangoes or stir well with a clean, dry wooden ladle. The mangoes shrink as the water starts oozing out  and they also lose the green colour and turn to a pale yellow, with aging.
Now when you open the Bharani or the bottle after 15 days,  you will be able to see the water with the mangoes.  The mangoes should look wrinkled but they will be crispy to eat.
Take a little water from that and use to grind mustard to a smooth paste.
Add the red chilli powder  to the mustard paste and bring it to a smooth paste.
Mix the paste with the mangoes nicely. If you like you can add little boiled and cooled salted water.
Place in an airtight container like Bharani (should be tied up with a cloth over the lid) or glass bottle.
Keep the jar in  a dark place. After three months open it and mix it well.
Serve the pickle with curd rice or any bland pulao or fried rice.

Points To Note: 
If you like you can add a little water boiled and cooled, just enough to immerse the salty mangoes if you need more of the gravy. But adding water will decrease the shelf life of the pickles. It would be better for you not to add water and use just the brine.
When ever you make Kanni Manga Achar, please do remember to fill the bottle or the bharani with mangoes, then cover with a muslin cloth so that the air does not get in and tie it up. If there is any empty space,  there is every chance that air will get in and spoil the pickle / Achar.
Always when you take some pickle out of the bottle, use clean and dry spoon. Otherwise fungus will form and the pickle will get spoilt.

Tongue Tickler - Fish Pickle Recipe

Ingredients Needed for the Fish Pickle:
500 grams fleshy fish ( like Salmon, Seer, Pomfret )
3 tbsps mustrad seeds ( 2 tbsps should be roasted)
2 tbsps cumin seeds roasted
2-4 cinnamon and cloves
12 flakes garlic
2" piece ginger
1 tbsp coriander powder roasted
2 tbsp red chilli powder
Salt to taste
20 ml oil
Vinegar as needed
1 tsp turmeric powder

How to prepare the Fish for the Pickle Recipe
Clean the fish and remove the bones.
Make small pieces of the fish, wash, drain and mix with turmeric powder, salt and keep aside for
10 - 15 minutes.
Heat oil in a pan, shallow fry the fish, drain and keep aside.

How to get the Fish Pickle Ready:
In the same oil, splutter 1 tbsp mustard seeds, add chilli powder. Mix the fish pieces with it. Keep aside
Grind all the roasted ingredients in to a fine paste adding vinegar instead of water.
Add to the fish and adjust salt to taste. Bring the mix to a boil. Remove and let cool.
Store the pickle in a clean and dried container with an airtight lid.

Points to Note:
If stored in the refrigerator it will stay for a longer time.
Always try to get fleshy fish like Seer, Salmon, Pomfret,  which can be cut into fleshy and boneless pieces.

Other Fish Recipes
Stuffed Fish Rolls in Tomato Sauce
Fish Biryani

Mango Pickles ( Chethu Mangga)

Ingredients needed for Mango Pickles:
50-60 country type sour mangoes, cut into small pieces
300 grams of rock salt
300 grams - chilli powder
5 teaspoons fenugreek powder/ hing
2 tbsp asafoetida powder
24big spoons gingelly oil/ Sesame oil/ Til oil

How to prepare the Mango Pickle:
Cut mangoes in to thick and broad pieces ( about 1" long), add salt and store it in a jar.
After two days when you open the jar you can see the salt as a liquid.
Strain the liquid, add chilli powder, fenugreek powder and asafoetida powder. Mix well with the mango pieces.
Heat oil in a frying pan, pour over the mango mixture. Cover with a clean, thick cloth
over the bharani or a porcelain jar.
Store in a dark, cool place where the sunlight will not be there.
You can take it out whenever you like in about 6 months.

Points to Note:
You can add or reduce chilli and salt as per your taste. This measurement is given in a general way.
This pickle will stay for a long time. Only thing is that you have to use a dry, clean spoon for taking out . You can take out a little and store it in a small bottle for daily use.
You should be very careful while making and handling pickles. Only then this pickle will stay unspoilt for a longer period.