I tried making pickle once, disaster actually a big disaster.

When I was growing up, I was sort of a wimp, nothing strong, nothing curry actually nothing Indian.

Now that I am older and wiser, my taste buds have evolved and I want nothing else other than strong Indian food. My dad asked me the other day, what is wrong with me, because it was just the other day I would cry when I saw chillies going into food, now I eat strong food and a ton of chillies.

Like everyone else I love a good pickle. To this day, I am still trying to find out how to make a pickle that I remember from my childhood days. I can picture it, but I can not remember the name. I guess as soon as I taste the right pickle I will know.

Most often than not, I buy store bought pickle which is swimming pool of oil, before I can even taste the pickle, I drain about a cup of oil off the top and then the pickle doesn’t even have a taste.

Then I came across Aunty Irene’s instant carrot pickle and I knew I just had to try it out. PERFECT. Of course I adapted the recipe, but adding more chillies and more sugar and although it tasted delicious on the same day, I found that after it stood in the fridge for a couple of days it tasted even better.

Ingredients:

Braising ingredients:

• ½ x cup olive oil.
• 1 x tbsp. mustard seeds.
• 1 x tsp jeera seeds.
• 1 x tsp Hing.
• ½ x tsp turmeric powder.
• ½ x tsp dhania powder.
• ½ x tsp jeera powder.
• 1 x tbsp. ginger and garlic powder.
• 7 x green chillies.

Non-braising ingredients:

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• 8 x large carrots, grated.
• Salt to taste.
• 50g x pickle masala.
• 2 ½ x tbsp. light brown sugar.
• ½ x cup apple cider vinegar.

Method:

• Heat the oil in a pot till hot.
• Add the mustard seeds and allow to start popping.
• Add the rest of the braising ingredients and allow everything infuse. When you start to smell the jeera seeds then you know it is time to remove from the heat.
• Set aside.
• In another bowl, mix all the non-braising ingredients together until everything is well combined.
• Pour the pot contents over the bowl ingredients.
• Mix well so that the oil coats everything.
• Use immediately, or bottle and store over night in the fridge to allow the ingredients to come to their full flavour.