How to Make Cauliflower Pickle
Ingredients Required:
• Cauliflower – 1(chopped into medium size)
• Salt – to taste
• Chili powder- ½ cup
• Mustard powder – 1 tablespoon
• Fenugreek powder-1 tablespoon (dry roast the fenugreek seeds and grind to a smooth powder)
• Turmeric powder-1/4 teaspoon
• Lemon -2(extract the juice without seeds)
• Peanut Oil—1cup(in which 2 teaspoons is used for tempering)
• Garlic pods-1/4 cup
• Red chilies- 4
• Cumin seeds-1/4 teaspoon
• Mustard seeds-1/4 teaspoon
Cauliflower Pickle Preparation method:
1. Clean the cauliflower and cut the florets to the desired medium size.
2. Soak thoroughly in salted Luke warm water for 10 minutes.
3. Wash them under fresh running water, drain and set aside.
4. If you have a chance to sun dry, do it for 3 to 4 hours. If you cannot sun dry, then dry them on a cotton cloth and fan dry or leave it for overnight.
5. Make sure there is no water in the florets; else the oil might splash on to you while frying.
6. Heat the desired amount of oil in a wide pan, once it is smoky hot, add cauliflower and fry them either deep fry or sauté in little oil just for 2 to 3 minutes on a medium high flame.
7. This is done to remove excess moisture from florets and increase the shelf life. Do not over fry the cauliflower.
8. They must be crunchy after they are fried. So 2 to 3 minutes of frying is good enough.
9. Drain the oil and keep the florets for cooling. Do not leave the cauliflower in the oil else they will turn very soft, since it will continue to cook as the oil is hot.
10. Dry roast fenugreek seeds till you get a nice aroma. Do not burn them. Set this aside to cool.
11. Powder fenugreek seeds and mustard seeds.
12. In a wide utensil, put back the fried cauliflower and pour the oil (you can use deep fried oil).
13. Now add ½ cup chili powder, ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder,1 tablespoon mustard powder, 1 tablespoon fenugreek powder(dry roast the fenugreek seeds and grind to a smooth powder) , and lemon juice(without seeds).
14. Mix all these ingredients well, after mixing add1cup of peanut oil so that cauliflower florets can absorb the oil and leave it for some time.
15. In the meantime prepare tempering, which will add extra taste for the pickle.
Tempering process:
a. Put a pan on stove and turn on flame.
b. Pan is hot now; add 2 teaspoons of peanut oil.
c. Once the oil is heated, add ¼ teaspoon mustard seeds, ¼ teaspoon cumin seeds then ¼ cup garlic pods and 4 red chilies and fry them .
d. Now add asafetida powder and switch off the heat and keep the pan aside to cool down.
Now the tempering process is finished.
16. Finally the tempering is added to the pickle and mix it well now add salt if necessary.
17. Keep the pickle aside for 3 days to absorb all the flavors.
Now the pickle is ready; we can bottle it in a clean dry jar. Stays good for about a month in refrigerator
Serve cauliflower pickle with rice and ghee.
CAUTION:
• Use fresh cauliflower that has no odor, no infestations or no fungi grown on it.
• Use enough salt and oil to keep the pickle good and tasty and also they act as natural preservatives. Else it may not have a good shelf life.
• If you wish you can add a 1” cinnamon stick and 4 to 6 cloves to the pickle for extra shelf life and to get a strong flavor.
