Cauliflower Pickle - Andhra Style

Fresh cauliflower florets mixed with Indian spices and lime juice for the tangy -spicy taste.

 No wonder there are 100's of variations and varieties in pickles, Andhra pickles always taste spicy and lip smacking .

I first heard about cauliflower pickle in Hyderabad

When I made this pickle at home, Mahesh loved it extremely and finished one large bottle in just 1 week. Even today he insists me to do cauliflower pickle, when I say that I would try other pickle this time :)

The aroma of ginger- garlic enhances the taste of the pickle. Goes well with parathas and hot rice :)

This pickle was taught to me by my friend Kavita. Later we all gathered at one of my friends place at our apartment and made this pickle . We took step by step clicks, to publish in my blog.

 I told them I would be posting it pretty soon but I took very long time, as my other posts were in queue :(

So today its the Cauliflower pickle turn.

Ingredients: 

 Cauliflower - 1

 Red Chilli  powder - 1/2 cup

Salt - Little less than 1/2 cup

Garlic cloves - 8 - 10

Ginger 1 " - 4 -5

turmeric - 1 tsp

Lime - 1 (small - 2)

(To be roasted slightly and powdered)

 Mustard seeds - 2 Tbsp

Cumin seeds - 1 tsp

Fenugreek seeds - 1/2 tsp

For Seasoning:

Oil - 5 tbsp

Mustard seeds - 1 tbsp

Curry leaves - 1 sprig

Dried red chillies - 5 -6

Method:

1) Separate the florets  into small pieces , wash them properly and allow it to dry on a clean  napkin cloth and put them in a large  dry bowl.

2) Roast the above  mentioned ingredients (mustard, cumin and fenugreek seeds) and powder them. Grind ginger garlic to a coarse paste.

3) In a bowl mix all the dry ingredients. This helps to taste the mix and modify salt- chilli mixture according to your  taste.

4) Add this mix to the florets.

5) Finally prepare the tempering and allow it to cool for 5 minutes. Add this to the mixture , Squeeze lime juice and keep aside for a day.

6) The pickle leaves the juice and florets shrink a bit. Crispy, tangy and finger licking  pickel will be ready .

Transfer this in an air tight jar and refrigerate it. Stays for about 1-2 weeks.

Brown Rice Khichidi

One day, we went to a Thai restaurant and they served red curry with brown rice. It was very filling yet light. We were not feeling it too heavy or drowsy as we generally feel with an Indian restaurant food. We then saw on net about brown rice Vs white rice and to our surprise, we realized that white rice has about one fourth of fiber as compared to brown rice. White rice is chemically processed and they do add talc or glucose as a whitening or polishing agent. Eating white rice is ok, if we cook it in a right way (refer to my earlier post about Cooking rice the healthy way). But I feel, once in a while we have to include brown rice in our diet.

So we started cooking brown rice but I couldn't enjoy brown rice with south Indian chutneys and rasam. I seriously wanted to have white rice but my husband was enjoying it. I then thought probably, my taste buds weren't accepting it and I thought this happens with many of them, thats why many hesitate to buy brown rice. Then I started experimenting to make this rice tastier and see with what dishes it goes well.

I tried many dishes and came to know that it goes well with dal makhani, tadka dal, thai green curry and when cooked  as mixed vegetable rice or khichidi. 

Now I am going to share the recipe for Brown Rice Khichidi. There are many ways to cook khichidi but the basic premise is cooking rice with lentils. Simple and authentic :) 

The spices are added according to my families taste, you can always modify it as per your taste.

Brown rice Basmati - 1 cup

 mung dal - 1/2 cup ( I used whole green mung dal)

Ginger chopped - 2 tsp

green chillies - 3 to 4

Onions thinly sliced - 1 

Crushed Pepper powder - 1/2 tsp

Clove - 3

cardamom  and cinnamon - 1 each

Bay leaf - 1

curry leaves - 1 sprig

turmeric - 1/2 tsp

Crushed cumin - 2 to 3 tsp

oil/ghee - 1 Tbsp

salt - to taste

Wash rice and soak at least for 15 minutes. Meanwhile You can be ready with all the ingredients.

- In a pressure cooker, Add 1 tbsp oil and add crushed cumin seeds, cloves, cardamom, cinnamon and  bay leaf. - Saute for a minute and add turmeric, green chillies, curry leaves, ginger and onions. Wait till onions become translucent.

- Add rice and dal, fry for a minute mixing all the masalas evenly and add 3 cups of water to it.( remember this khichidi must be very soft, you can add 1/2 cup of water more to it)

- finally add crushed pepper, salt and coriander leaves and close the lid. Wait till 3 whistles. turn off and serve hot.

Goes well with tadka dal or raitha.