Dates and Garlic Pickle

Life sometimes is sweet and sometimes annoying that you want to take a break!

It is not exactly made to order and set on a plate for you to relish. It comprises of people and moments that set the tone. Well, think about your emotions - you could be joyful yet confused and sad at the same time.
If you are not yet in sync and if you are a girl, think back to the day of your wedding ( if you are married of course!!) - did you not have those bitter sweet moments?
You are happy about beginning a new life with a partner you have chosen, sad about no longer being able to run home to your parents every now and then, confused on whether you will be able to handle a marriage and responsibilities and so on. Well, emotions on this day can be overwhelming! I went through all these and at least few of you echo my thoughts. At the end of it all - I am one happy soul.

This is how I would like to describe my recipe too - a bottle of emotions not in the literal sense but to the senses of your palate. There is dates for sweetness, garlic for the hint of pungency, chilly for the spice quotient and tamarind for the sourness. There you have - dates and garlic pickle.

Ingredients

Dates - 250 grams de-seeded chopped*
Garlic - 50 grams chopped*
Curry Leaf - 3 sprigs
Fenugreek seeds - 1/4 tsp
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Chilly powder - 1 tbsp
Tamarind - 1 gooseberry sized ball
Warm Water - 1 cup
Oil - 2 tbsp ( I have used coconut oil)
salt to taste

Method

Soak the tamarind in 1 cup of water for 15 minutes and extract the juice from the pulp.

Heat oil in a pan and add the mustard seeds. Let them splutter, reduce the flame and then add the fenugreek seeds.

Add garlic and curry leaves to this and saute until the specs of brown just start appearing on the garlic. Sprinkle turmeric powder and chilly powder and let the masala get cooked.

Add the dates and coat this well with the masala. Keep it covered for 2-3 minutes on low flame.

Finally pour in the tamarind extract and add salt. Bring it to boil and let it simmer for 5 - 7 minutes till it thickens and the dates begin to melt.

It is a popular combination with Biriyani towards the south of India and we had it with parathas. The combo did gel well.

You may also note -

* dates and garlic can either be chopped or slit lengthwise or you could also have it go in as whole.
Once cooled it can be refrigerated in an air tight container for up to a month.

Comments

Traversing the Deutschland-Frankfurt on foot

No better way to explore a new place than on foot - soaking in the ethereal rays of the sun and the gentle breeze setting the tone for the late afternoon, we set out to explore the pristine town of Frankfurt along River Main. Half a day in Frankfurt was all we had, nevertheless, we managed to comfortably traverse the city and all we wanted to see and do in 6 hours. Given that we visited Frankfurt in the end of April, the weather ranged from 6 to 20 degree, warm clothing is always recommended. Setting out from the B&B Hotel in Frankfurt, we headed in the direction of the river. A city along the banks of a river, gives the place a special charm, atleast that what I think! Every travel brings about new revelations. I come from a place where there is no dearth for sunlight and hence, probably do not value it enough and here I was at a place where the glorious sun presents itself in its full glory once a while. The green pastures along the banks of the river had people sleeping shirtles...

Rava Uthappam

Quite a few friends have requested for some vegetarian recipes to be posted in my blog else they say they would " unlike" the page on facebook :) I have been trying to recollect the vegan recipe that I love the most and that is when Rava Uthappam clicked! A quick uthappam recipe that does not require the batter to stand over night. So here goes the history. This recipe dates to those days when I had just moved out of college into corporate life. A few of us classmates moved in together after college beginning to bask in the glory of the newly found financial independence. After a hectic day at work, we would gather in the kitchen to cook ourselves a decent dinner. All we had was three or four utensils, an over packed small refrigerator shared by nine maybe ten of us, a double burner stove(one burner which hardly worked) and our inadequate cooking skills. We were always on the lookout for simple and quick recipes. None of us had the time or the energy for elabo...

Paratha Egg Roll

Even the best of the hostel food seems bad when the monotony in their menu gets to you. That was the case with our hostel. We were blessed to have non vegetarian food for every dinner except on Fridays but yet after a point in time we began craving outside food.That is how food from Ande ka Funda, a small food joint near our hostel caught our attention. It was very affordable on our student days allowance and quite tasty too - Egg roll, bread omelette, aloo paratha, gobi paratha were their popular items. I took a liking for their egg rolls which came either as single egg roll or double egg roll. The double egg roll made a good meal! My paratha egg roll came into being trying to replicate theirs. Its a favorite due to the simplicity of the whole thing! You need not make paratha from scratch, you could always use the store brought ones when you are in a hurry! The same recipe goes well with chapati too! It is my go to recipe when we need a quick dinner! Ingredients Plain P...

Wanderberry Tales

Search This Blog