Pickles are a massively consumed dish rather a side dish in all parts of India. Every state has its own version of a vegetable pickle that are different in flavours and its method of preparation. That is what makes the food scenes in India all the more exciting really. It is the different methods of cooking food; it is the different regional spices and the many ingredients that you can find all over India.
Spices are a constant everywhere in India. In the North East of India, we use a lot of different spices that may be new to the world and we shall explore these different spices of the north east in another section.
The importance of fermentation in the North East of India
In this region, the usual vegetable pickles are mostly made of fermented vegetables such as mustard leaves, fermented radish, fermented peas, fermented cauliflower, fermented carrots and fermented bamboo shoots to name a few. You may be wondering why fermentation is such a huge part of North Eastern foods. Well there’s a reason for everything and here’s the reason for fermented foods in North East India.
Since the North east is a region that experiences a lot of rainfall, it so happens that food decays very fast, and that spoils a lot of food that could be used to feed a family for months. So fermentation, in this case helps to preserve the same food with an increased shelf life. Another reason is that fermentation is a process that completely ups the nutritional level in any kind of food and that helps keep up the immunity in the colder months when the region can get really cold. Another reason is that the fermentation process not only ups the nutrition level of the food but also at the same time, really enhances the flavours so that the same flavours concentrate increasingly and make the food all the more delicious.
Today we are going to explore how vegetable pickles are made in the North east by making two amazing vegetable pickles recipes at our homes. Another thing one should know is that in the north east we like it if our vegetable pickles have a good crunch to it. Without further ado let’s get onto the first pickle recipe:
- Mula ko Achar (raddish pickle)
Raddish pickle or mula ko achar is a staple, we like to consume this pickle with almost anything and everything. It is amazing to consume with rotis, puris, plain rice, with the sael roti on Dashain and Diwali and also as plain snacks. Its crunchy it has a certain spicy aspect to it, it does good things to your digestive game and it is absolutely fulfilling.
Ingredients:
- 2 large radishes (the daikon raddish or the table radish)what you can do is wash, peel and cut the radishes into French fries shape.
- 2 tablespoon of salt.
- A teaspoon of Lakadong Turmeric.
- One fourth cup of mustard oil (for the aroma and the taste)
- A large tablespoon of mustard powder
- Two teaspoons of red chilli powder or as per taste
- A teaspoon of timbur powder (if this is not available at stores near you, you can easily order this at our website at neorigins.com).
Procedure:
- Take a large bowl and add the dried radishes, Lakadong turmeric and salt and mix this well so that all the radishes are well coated with the spices.
- Now add the mustard powder, the oil and the chilli powder and mix well so that the spices coat all the radishes evenly.
- Now take a large mason jar that is washed and dried well and start stuffing this pickle into the jar and literally stuff them together so that there is little to no air spaces in the jar.
- Now keep the jar out in the sun for 2-3 weeks to start to make the pickle sour because that’s the quintessential flavour of the mula ko achar. If it ain’t sour it ain’t power!
- After three weeks in the sun it will have turned pretty sour and now you can keep it in the fridge so it doesn’t get any sourer. And voila your Mula ko achar is ready!
- Mesu pickle:
Mesu is fermented bamboo shoot. We have discussed in a previous article how mesu is prepared. Today we shall learn how to make a mean mesu pickle north east style
Ingredients:
- Half a kg of fermented dry mesu or fermented bamboo shoots.
- 2 tablespoon of salt.
- A teaspoon of Lakadong Turmeric.
- One fourth cup of mustard oil (for the aroma and the taste)
- 10 cloves of garlic
- Two teaspoons of red chilli powder or as per taste
Procedure:
- Take a large bowl and add the mesu, Lakadong turmeric and salt and mix this well so that all the radishes are well coated with the spices.
- Now add the oil, the garlic cloves that are roughly crushed, the chilli powder and mix well so that the spices coat all the mesu evenly.
- Now take a large mason jar that is washed and dried well and start stuffing this pickle into the jar and literally stuff them together so that there is little to no air spaces in the jar.
- Now keep the jar out in the sun for 2-3 weeks to start to make the pickle sour and also to absorb all the spices because that’s the quintessential flavour of Mesu Pickle. If it ain’t sour it ain’t power!
- After three weeks in the sun it will have turned pretty sour and now you can keep it in the fridge so it doesn’t get any sourer. And voila your Mesu pickle is ready!
These pickles look and seem very simple and not a flavour, but trust me you when I say that they are the ultimate game changer to a boring meal and can be consumed without even an occasion. These pickles are sour and spicy and crunchy and very continental. People who love continental food or Korean kimchi will definitely like these vegetable pickle recipes. Do try these recipes at your own homes and let us know how they turned out. If any products in the recipe cannot be found at stores near you, you can simply head to our website at www.neorigins.com and order yourself authentic products from top brands in the North east of India that have the best quality products.
