A Salute to the ladies in ma life.... ( Dates Pickle of ma Grandma)

A Salute to the ladies in our family !! Happy Woman's Day !!

My Grandmom (Ummama ) & my mom are the two auspicious ladies in our family and in my life who have been inspiring me all my life. The former is an excellent cook . Her pickles and curries are just the best. The first curry I've ever made is under her supervision;ie; Mathi (sardines) curry. That was so yummy &tasty that even kids who hate sardines couldn't resist them from eating. Lime pickle ,dates pickle & her Meat Aanam( coconut gravy) are some of her special delicacies. I admire her courage to run the whole family single handedly. Grandpa left all us at an early age. Only a slight memory of him remains in our minds; like coming home with a packet of goodies mostly peanut cakes (kadala mittayi) and we kids racing to the nearby bus-stop to grab them from him.

Now, coming to ma mom. All knows that ma blog is named after her- Khadeeja ; Kachuss is her petname. I celebrate her as a woman; a mother who could bring up their kids to what they are now; a house manager who could bind the whole family together till now and a wonderful grandma to the new generation of our family. This post is dedicated to these two wonderful ladies.

As I said, this is an easy and yummy recipe of my Grandma ,Aysha. She knew it well that I love dates a lot and so never forgets to send me a bottle more often. It has been more than 2 years that I've not met her.:( I guess I could do some justice to the recipe other than the fact that I chopped my onions a bit thick ( Noora found out in her first bite)..

Ingredients:

Dates 250 gm (with seeds) & 2 cups when deseeded & chopped
Red Chilli Powder 1 tbsp
Green Chilli 4
Garlic 1 tbsp
Ginger chopped 1 tbsp
Vinegar 1 1/2cup*
Onion 1 medium
Fenugreek powder 1/2 tsp
Coconut oil 2 tbsp
Mustard seeds 1 tsp
Curry leaves few

Method:

1. Deseed the dates and chop them.

2. Cut the onions in half and then cut again into 3 pieces lengthwise and then chop into thin slices.

3. Mix dates, red chilli powder, salt, onion,ginger and fenugreek powder together.

4. Pour vinegar to it.

5. Splutter mustard seeds in oil and then add curry leaves. Switch off the flame, let it cool and then add it to the pickle. Cooling it is important here; otherwise it won't stay long.

To be taken care of:

Clean the bottle carefully in which you are about to store the pickle/achar. First boil them in water for a while, dry it and clean it with a tissue. Again show it on top of a burning fire for a while holding the bottle safely with a cloth. Clean it with a dry cloth or tissue again. Let it cool.

The onions and other ingredients used should be dry and without any moisture content.

You can add beetroot to this recipe too. Boil it, drain and make sure that it is left with no moisture and then add it. You can add it without boiling too if you need a crispy beet.

Use the dates which is locally available in India; slightly hard ones. The good quality dates will melt easily in pickles and won't taste so good.

*I've used white vinegar here. If you are using more intensive flavored ones, then u can add water to mild the flavor. Boil and cool the water nicely before adding to this.

Linking this to Kerala Kitchen Event