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The potato is an extremely popular vegetable and is easily available all the year round. Since we are nearing the end of the Pickling Season, and the availability of raw mangoes is beginning to decrease, let’s explore another exciting pickle that you can make anytime, in any season – a delightful Potato Pickle, known in India as Aloo Ka Achaar.
The ingredients that you will require are given below.
Ingredients for Potato Pickle
Potatoes (Aloo): 700 grams
Coriander (Dhania) Leaves: 60 grams
Mustard Oil: 1 litre
Ginger (Adrak): A one-inch piece
Fenugreek (Methi) Seeds: 1 teaspoon
Sesame (Til) Seeds: 50 grams
Green Chillies: 5
Red Chilli Powder: 1 tablespoon
Lemon Juice: 4 tablespoons
Turmeric (Haldi) Powder: 1 teaspoon
Asafoetida (Heeng): Just a pinch
Salt: 1 tablespoon
While selecting the potatoes, don’t choose large ones. Medium-sized would be the best. In fact, some people prefer to make this pickle with baby potatoes.
The quantities mentioned above are for approximately ten servings. Adjust the ingredients proportionately to suit the number of servings you require.
Preparation for Potato Pickle
Peel, wash and boil the potatoes. When they are done, cut them into medium-sized cubes. Keep aside.
Coarsely chop the coriander leaves.
Peel, wash and finely chop the ginger.
Dry roast the sesame seeds. Let the roasted seeds cool down to room temperature. Then grind them into a coarse powder.
Slit, deseed and coarsely chop the green chillies.
Method for Potato Pickle
In a mixing bowl, take the potatoes, sesame seed powder, green chillies, red chilli powder and salt. Mix well.
Take two tablespoons of Mustard Oil in a frying pan and sauté the fenugreek seeds, ginger and asafoetida for a minute or so, stirring constantly. Turn the flame off and let the contents cool down to room temperature.
Pour the contents of the frying pan into the mixing bowl and mix well. Then add the lemon juice and coriander leaves to the bowl and continue mixing. Cover the bowl and keep aside for around 20 minutes, allowing the flavours to set.
Take a glass or porcelain pickling jar and sterilize it. Do make sure that it is completely dry. There should be no residual moisture inside the jar.
Pour the contents of the mixing bowl into the pickling jar. Pour the remaining Mustard Oil into the jar. The potato and spices mixture should be completely immersed in Mustard Oil; the level of the oil should be around one centimetre above the contents.
Next, cover the mouth of the jar with a clean, dry muslin cloth and fix the cloth in place by tying a string around the neck of the jar. Place the jar out in the hot summer sun. Ideally, a terrace or rooftop would be the best place because your pickle would enjoy continuous sunshine throughout the day, which is important for the maturing process. However, if you don’t have access to a terrace, you can place the jar in a balcony or on a window sill – but you will need to move it around as the sunlight shifts during the course of the day.
Remember to bring the jar indoors at night to prevent moisture from setting in. While keeping it indoors, ensure that the jar is placed in a dry environment. Avoid damp areas like kitchen sinks and water tanks.
After around three days in the sun, your Aloo Ka Achaar will be ready. This pickle will not last as long as other pickles because there would invariably be some residual moisture in the potatoes and coriander leaves. There’s also the lemon juice that you added. If you refrigerate it, your Potato Pickle will last for a couple of months. But normally, it won’t last that long – because it is just too delicious!
You can find more recipes at : https://www.purioilmills.com/pickles/
