Make delicious instant pickle pre-mix using black pepper

Pickle is an intrinsic and very important part of an Indian cuisine. Without pickle on side, an essential part will be missing from an Indian thali. You will find pickles in almost every thali in any region of India.

During summers, its a practice in many Indian homes to prepare pickle in enough quantities so that it lasts for at least a year. Mango, lemon and chilli are the most common pickles and there are hundreds of varieties of pickles.

Here is the recipe of balck pepper pickle pre-mix that can be used to quickly make a pickle from any seasonal vegetable available in your kitchen.

Ingredients:

    1 cup whole black peppercorns, very coarsely grinded
    2 tbsp Split yellow mustard
    2 tbsp Split fenugreek seeds
    1 tbsp Split coriander seeds
    1 tsp Kashmiri red chilli powder
    1/2 tsp turmeric powder
    1/2 tsp asafoetida
    1/2 cup sesame oil
    Salt to taste

Preparation Method:

• In a dry pan, roast the peppercorns, mustard seeds, fenugreek seeds, cumin seeds, and coriander seeds until fragrant. Let it cool.
• Grind the roasted spices into a coarse powder.
• In a pan, heat the sesame oil and add the turmeric powder and asafoetida. If you wish you can use any other cooking oil.
• Turn off the heat and let the oil cool down.
• Once the oil cool down, add the ground spice powder and mix well.
• Add the salt to the mixture. Add a slightly more salt because when you are preparing salads you will not need to add extra salt and just adding this instant pickle pre-mix will be enough. Remember that salt works as a natural preservative so it will also helps increasing the shelf life of this instant pickle pre-mix.

Store this pepper pickle in an airtight container. It tastes good when you use it immediately but when its kept for a few days, it allow the flavors to develop and so it tastes even better. You can prepare instant pickles from this by adding this to freshly cut raw mangoes, cucumber, carrot or even onions.

This Pepper pickle pre-mix is a spicy and flavorful condiment that also pairs well with a variety of dishes like, parantha, khichadi or even simple boiled rice!