If you love eating, you can surely be a good cook, but to be an excellent one, you should have good critics at home. For that I owe to my husband and my children.

I dedicate this blog to the young ladies - "the starters".

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Meat Pickles



Ingredients

Boneless meat - ½ kg
Onion - 1
Ginger - 60 gm
Small garlic pods - 20
Curry leaves
Turmeric powder - 1tsp
Dry red chilli - 4
kashmere chilli powder - 2 tbsp
pepper corns -20
cloves - 4
green cardamom - 4
fennel seeds (perum jeerakam) - ½ tsp
a petal of star anise (takkolam)
nutmeg - ½ inch
cinnamon - ½ inch
vegetable oil - 2 cup
Natural vineger -1 cup
salt
sugar - ½ tsp

Preparation

Wash the meat twice and cut into two inch pieces.
Cook the meat with salt and ½ tbsp of chilli powder.
When cooked, see that no water is remaining.

In a non-stick pan, pour a table spoon of oil and
sauté the meat dry and keep it aside.

Grind all the spices from pepper corns to cinnamon
into fine powder.

Peel and thinly slice the onion.

Make a paste of ginger and garlic.

On medium flame, in a wok, pour oil and deep fry
the onion crispy, dark brown.
Take out the crispy onion and to the same hot oil
add curry leaves, de-seeded dry red chillies.
Scoop these out and add ginger garlic paste.
Stir continuously till light brown .
Turn the fire low and add turmeric powder,
Chilli powder, all the spice powder and sauté for a minute.
Now add the fried onion, curry leaves, dry red chilli and the meat.
Mix well as you pour vinegar ,sugar and salt.

When cooled, store in an air–tight jar.
Start using after three days.

Intake of pickles should be in moderation ,
as too much salt is added to the pickles.
But one thing we must admit, sending home made
pickles to our loved ones like all other goodies, is
a remedy for home sickness.