Stuffed Chilli Pickle

This is an irresistible pickle! 

That said, I must say you need guts of steel to enjoy this one. There is something very glamorous about pickling these pretty red hot~~ chilies.

On one of those visits to APMC market I spotted this guy selling these beauties. I fell for the sheer charm and bought a whole kg. On counting they were 45 or more!

I took on the challenge of washing, drying and slitting them open to remove the seeds. They were going to be my best pickle I knew already. I am not kidding each of my 4 sisters, my 3 bros, my atyas and uncles all got a share of this pickle. They all loved it!

Well it was Sia's Monsoon Spice pictures that got me into risking scorching my hands and she in turn refers to the original recipe by Rajani of Eat write think.

I kept the same ratios but made a huge batch of the masala thinking the quantities specified by both the ladies are small compared to the no. of chilies. They had made smaller batches while mine was more than double. I had too much masala in the end but you will see in the upcoming post what I did with the extra masala. Anyways what I give here is halved quantities of the masala I actually made and used for this pickle.

Ingredients

1/4 cup Fennel Seeds

1/4 cup Cumin Seeds

1/4 cup Fenugreek Seeds
1/4 cup Mustard Seeds

2 tablespoons Nigella Seeds

3 tablespoons Turmeric Powder

1/8 cup Amchur Powder/Dry Mango Powder 

1 tablespoon asafoetida
1/4 cup salt

1/2 cup Mustard Oil

300 ml Mustard Oil  to immerse the chilies

In the microwave toast all the seeds for 30 secs. Let them cool to room temperature.

Put all of it into the mixer jar, add the turmeric, asafoetida and amchur and give it a whiz. Stop at coarse grind. 

Remove to a thali the coarse grounds and mix in salt and mustard oil.

Preparing the chillies is the biggest challenge. I would recommend handling the chilies with gloves on. Wash and pat dry. Then slit the chilies and remove the central pith and seeds. I at the time thought I did not think I needed gloves and assumed the the chilies would not be that hot. I was wrong. My hands were scorched. Until...

I made this pickle over the day long chores in the house so I was applying ice all through the day on my hands till I sat down to stuff up the slit chillies. It was an amazing feeling how the prepared spice paste cooled my hands. It assured me that the heat in the chilies will be toned down as they aged. Yet again I was to be proved wrong.

After stuffing all the chilies I lined them into a clean and dry glass jar. Pour 300 ml Mustard oil over the stuffed chilies.

Keep the jar in the sun for a week.

Then move it to store in a cool dry place.

To serve I usually remove 1 chilli at a time from the oil using a tong and divide it into bits for individual serves.

Do you need suggestion to eat this pickle? We eat it with everything Indian! It's the best pickle now in my repertoire may I say :)

Thank you Rajani and Sia, I am now the designated stuffed chilli pickle maker in my family and friend circle.