Sweet and Sour Lapsi Pickle

Lapsi is available in the market from October till December. I have heard that this is rare fruit which is available only in Nepal. Because, I have never been in other part of the world, so; I am going to believe that what I have heard until other people come claiming they have seen it grow in their part of the world. Keeping aside the availability part of it, this is the fruit which can be used for many purposes like candy, sauce, pickle.  

We love it whatever form or taste it comes to our table. Lapsi Titaura is another very famous finger food here in Nepal. However, people love it mostly coated or added sugar in any form. Had this fruit been found in other part of the world like US or UK, they would have made jam out of it, but we are Nepali and have the taste bud for tasty and delicious pickle and we love pickle of all kind. Not surprisingly, we only know how to make pickle out of it.

What you need to  Sweet Lapsi Pickles ?

Ingredients 

Lapsi                          :  One and half kg [ 1500 gram]
Green Chili                 :  200 gram
Sugar                         :  One kg [1000 gram]

Sea Salt                      :  Two teaspoon
Black [rock ] Salt        :  Two teaspoon
Annis seeds [Sauf]      :  One teaspoon
Fenugreek Seeds        :  Half teaspoon
Turmeric powder        :  Half teaspoon
sunflower oil               : 3-4 table spoon [100 ml]


How to convert these ingredients into a pickle ?

• Clean Lapsi and then boil it for about 10 - 12 minutes only. Its a very soft fruit so its skin cracks up very fast.  When you boil it put only one cup of water [ 275 ml ] on it and a teaspoon of sea salt. You can use that water later on when you mash the pulp.
• Keep it aside once its skin opens up.
• Clean green chilies and put it in mixture to make fine paste.
• Once lapsi cools down then mash it using fork or your hand. If you do not like its pit then you can remove it. But, let me tell you, you may like to suck its pit when you enjoy the sweet pickle. If you consider yourself royal then you can also remove the skin of it. However, I like the taste of it in any form so I keep it on my pickle.
• In another pan heat oil. Put fenugreek seeds on it, when its color is brown then add annis seeds [ Sauf ] and wait until both color is golden brown.
• Add green chili in the pan and stir it for about  three minutes.
• Add all the sugar in it and stir it until it melts well.
• Add the mashed lapsi on it. Stir it well and mix properly with the suger and chillies.
• Cook it for about ten to fifteen minutes, so that all the sugar and salt will enter into the soft and sour lapsi pulp.
• After that gas off and keep the lid on until it cools down.

Now, your Sweet lapsi pickle is ready !

 

Note : 

1. use the hard anodized cookware to cook sour and acidic fruit. other metal vessel are not suitable for sour fruit like lapsi, lemon or amala.  
2. This is a fresh pickle which can be ready to eat once its cooked but you can also put it in glass or plastic bottle. 
3. Unlike other pickles its not something you can enjoy with rice.  You can enjoy this tasty and delicious pickle when you feel sleepy during day time. 
4. Do you know you can make a different pickle using only the skin of this sour and tangy fruit ? go ahead and try this one.  

Pumpkin Pickle

Pickles can be made from vegetables, fruit, spices, herb and more. Pumpkin is one such vegetable that can be converted into pickle. Good news is during its season pumpkin is available abundantly in the market. Although pumpkin pickle is not that usual type of vegetable unlike other vegetables but there are people who like its pickles. Here is one recipe if you like sweet pickle as this is [October] the time of the year you can have ripe pumpkin  in your kitchen garden or in the market.

What do you need to make its pickles ?

Ingredients :

Pumpkin                    :  400 gram

Sesame seed             : Three tablespoon

Salt                            :  as per taste

Hot Chili                     : four nos

Lemon                       : two medium size

Fenugreek seeds       : half teaspoon

turmeric powder       : half teaspoon

Asafoetida                 : one pinch

Sunflower Oil             : two table spoon

What you have to do it to convert it into pickle ? 

• Peel and chop pumpkins into small pieces.
• Boil it on a pressure cooker and wait for three whistle before you off the gas. When you boil it put only a cup of water.
• Onces its boiled then mash it using fork or clean hand.
• Roast sesame seed, sesame seeds needs to be roasted dry without using any fat or oil.
• put sesame seeds on mixture and then run the mixture. add some water to get its thick paste. when its done add chili also and run a mixture one more time for 15 sec only.
• Put all the ingredients into a bowl and mix it well.
• Now put a pan over a gas and heat the oil. When the oil is hot enough put fenugreek seeds on it. Wait until it turns total black. 
• Turn off the gas. 
• Put the hing [ asafoetida ] and turmeric on it, and pour the hot oil on the bowl where pumpkin is. Put a lid on the bowl for about a minute or two.
•  Now squeeze two lemon over it and mix it one more time. 

 Now, your pumpkin pickle is ready !   

Note :

1. Pumpkin is sweet by nature which require more salt and chili to get our desired tangy and tasty pickle.

Roasted Tymmator Pickle

In South America it may be called Tamarillo but here in Nepal we call this tymmator. According to the Wikipedia tymmmator is called tamarillo, its full definition for this tree and fruit is like this, "The tamarillo is a small tree or shrub in the flowering plant family Solanaceae (the nightshade family). It is best known as the species that bears the tamarillo, an egg fruit.^[2] It is also known as the tree tomato,^[3] tamamoro, and tomate de árbol din South America." 

This fruit is available in the market during October and November. I am sure you love it's pickle as it tastes tangy and acidic just like tomato, which is unripe. It takes only about 10-12 minutes to prepare this pickle.

Ingredients :

Tymmator      :  3 nos

Chili                :  2 nos

Garlic             :  2 cloves

Salt                :  As per taste

Timur             :  five piece only

How to convert it into pickle ?

• All you have to do is to roast three  tymmator. 
• When you roast it, roast chili and garlic also with it. 
• When its skin cracks up, peel the skin.
• Peel garlic skin too. 
• Grind timur before hand as its too small and takes time to grind.  
• Now, put everything on mixture and run it for about 20 seconds only.

Pour it in a small bowl and put some salt on it and mix it with a clean spoon.

Now, your pickle is ready ! 

Sweet Amala Pickle

Amala [ goose berry ] is very very rich in vitamin C and iron. Its really good for cold. Some ancient Indian medicine puts amala in very high list for its good health benefits. Consumption of this also good for your throat and hair also. It is believed that this strengthen your hair and it also makes our hair black and strong. 

 
This small sour, acidic fruit is available in the market during the month of October and November. Its time in the market is very short I mean one day you see it and next time you go looking for it you cant find it in the market. So, when you see it buy it and enjoy making its pickle and preserve it as much as you can.

Ingredients 

Amala                       :  two kg [ 2000 gram]
Green Chili                :  200 gram
Sugar                        :  1000 gram
Annis seed [Sauf]      :  two teaspoon
Fenugreek Seed        :  one teaspoon
Sea Salt                     :  two teaspoon
Black [rock ] Salt       :  one and half teaspoon 
Turmeric powder       :  Half teaspoon
sunflower oil              :  2-3 table spoon [ 75 ml]


How to convert these ingredients into a pickle ?

• Clean Amala and boil it  in a pressure cooker. When you hear one whistle then put gas on low heat and after another two whistle gas off. When you boil it put only one cup of water [ 275 ml ] on it and a teaspoon of sea salt. 
• Mash it with fork or you can use your hand too. 
• Remove pits from it, if you do not like its pit. But, if like to suck its pit when you enjoy the sweet pickle when you are working on your computer or basking in the sun.
• Clean and chop green chilies. You can make its paste also.
• In another pan heat oil. Put fenugreek seeds on it, when its color is light brown then add annis seeds [ Sauf ] and wait until both color turns into golden brown. Darker the better.
• Put turmeric powder in it.
• Add green chili in the pan and stir it for about three minutes.
• Add sugar in it and stir it properly until it melts well.
• Add the mashed amala in it.
• Cook it for about ten minutes with lid on, so that; Amala soaks all the sugar and salt into it. 

Now your Sweet Amala pickle is ready !

Note : 

1. When you cook it use hard anodized cookware instead of other metal vessel. Sour and acidic fruit are not good in all type of metal to cook.
2. This is a fresh pickle which can be ready to eat once its cools down but you can also put it in bottle and use it for about a month. 
3. Unlike other pickles this not something you can enjoy with rice. You can enjoy this tasty and delicious pickle when you work in computer or bask in the sun or feel sleepy during day time. 

Potato and Cucumber Pickle

One of the best part of potato is its available around the year and you can choose any potato if you want to make its pickles. Here is one of the most easiest method to make a potato and cucumber pickle. 

What you need to prepare a pickle like this ?

Ingredients :

Potatoes                                                 : 400 grams

Cucumber                                              : two small size cucumber or 200 grams

green chili                                              : 5  nos

Onion                                                     : one medium size

Chuk [concentrated acidic fruit juice ]   : 15 gram or two lemon juice

Salt                                                         : as per the taste

Sesame                                                  : two table spoon

How to convert all these ingredients into a tasty and delicious pickle ?

Chuk

• Boil potato and keep it aside.
• When it cools down peel it.
• After that cut it into four or six piece of each potato. 
• Clean cucumber and cut it into small size matching the size of potatoes.
• Chop onion and chili.
• Roast sesame and then make its powder. 
• Put all the ingredients into one bowl and then mix it.
• Taste the pickle for its seasoning. If you think some thing needs to be added then fix it at this time, like adding salt, chili or chuk.

Now, your pickle is ready !

Royal pickle - Radish, green peas and Lapsi

Tihar Special

When I was child this pickle used to be the most part of the festival during Dashain as well as Tihar. No wonder, this really has lasted in my mind. The woman who used to make it used take time of her own when she made it and never making a mistake in its taste. No wonder, we used to like it so much, even today after decades of eating it, it has lasting in my mind which thinks without this pickle the biggest festival wears a faded look. Here I go, as I remember the woman named Chandra didi used to make it.

Ingredients : 

Radish : 700 grams

Green Peas           : 300 grams [small or big but soaked overnight ]

Lapsi                  : 200 grams

Green chili           : 100 grams

Garlic                : 6 big cloves

Ginger               : one big piece
Dry long red chili : 5 - 6 nos
Salt                  : As per taste
Turmeric powder : Half teaspoon
Fenugreek         : One teaspoon
Mustard  Oil      : Two tablespoon

How to convert all these ingredients into pickles ?

• Boil lapsi in a pan with lid on for 10-12 minutes only. When its skin opens up gas off and keep it aside for some time to cool down.
• Clean and cut the radish in long shape.
• Chop green chili in round shape but not too thin.
• Mash the lapsi when it's still warm. You get more of gooey mass of the lapsi if you mash it when it's still warm. Use some water if you want to get more of the mass out of lapsi pulp.
• Separate the pit from the lapsi and throw it.
• If, I mean if only; you consider yourself royal remove the skin out of it. However, I, not being a royal and lover of tangy taste of lapsi, I keep it in pickle.
• Put all the ingredients in a steel bowl a mix it well.
• Peel off the garlic and ginger.
• Make a paste of it and put it on top of the mixed radish.
• spread the turmeric powder on top of the garlic and ginger paste.
• Heat a pan and pour oil in it.
  When its hot enough put fenugreek seeds on it.
• When the fenugreek seeds turns total black and oil starts smoking off, pour the super hot oil on the center of the radish, peas and lapsi mixture. When you pour it make sure you target it on turmeric, ginger and garlic paste.
• Cover it for about a minute or two.
• Now, mix all the ingredients one last time properly. This time you have to make sure the turmeric color is spread on every ingredients.

Now, your royal pickle is ready !

Warning :

1. The good scent might seduce you so much that you want to finish it all in one sitting.  
2. This is fresh pickle but if you put it in refrigerator with tight lid jar it can be used for about a month.

Royal Pickle Alloo, Peas and Lapsi

    
Dashain and Tihar Special

There are plenty of ways to make potatoes and peas pickles but I yet have to taste the one which is any better than the one I am talking about. I call this royal pickle because a woman who used to work in palace introduce it to my platter. Her name was Chandra Didi.

Ingredients

Potatoes [Alloo] : 600 grams

Green peas    : 300 grams [ overnight soaked ]

Lapsi : 150 grams

Green chili : 100 grams

Sesame seeds  : 50 grams

Red chili powder : one teaspoon
dry red chili : 5 - 6 pece

Salt : as per taste

Turmeric powder : half teaspoon

Fenugreek : one teaspoon

Mustard or : three tablespoon

sunflower Oil

How to convert all these ingredients into pickles ?

• Boil lapsi in a pan with lid on for 10-12 minutes only. When its skin opens up gas off and keep it aside for some time to cool down.
• Boil medium size round potatoes in a pressure cooker on medium heat. 3 whistle and gas off. Let it aside to cool down also.
• Once the potatoes cools down, peel its skin and then cut each one into four piece.
• Put the cut potatoes into another clean and dry bowl.
• Chop green chili in round shape but not too thin.
• Mash the lapsi when it's still warm but you can work on it. You get more of gooey part of the lapsi if you mash it when it's still warm. Use some water if you need to get more of object. Separate the pit from the lapsi and if you want to separate the skin of it this is also fine. However, I keep the skin of it in pickle.
• Roast sesame seeds and grind it make its paste.
• Put all the ingredients in a bowl and then mix it.
• Make a paste of garlic and ginger and put it on top of the mixed potatoes.
• Heat the oil in a pan and put fenugreek seek on it.
• When the fenugreek seeds turns total black and oil starts smoking off, add red chili on it. as its dry so it will burn fast.
• Pour the super hot oil on the center of the peas and potatoes mixture. When you pour it make sure you target it on turmeric which is on the center of the pickle.
• Cover it for a minutes.
• Now mix all the ingredients one last time properly. This time you have to make sure the turmeric color spread well on every ingredients.

Now, your pickle is ready !

Note : This is fresh pickle but if you put it in refrigerator with tight lid it can be used for about a month.