Varun's Antioxidant Rich Turmeric Pickle
Varun Rana is multitalented. Not only is he the most knowledgeable fashion journalist in our country, he also knows how to tie a sari in 16 different ways, and speaks a few languages too. But these abilities don't even come close to his natural flair for cooking. I'm not exaggerating when I say that his risotto is better than what I've had in Italy and that he can whip up the most delicious carbonara in a matter of minutes. With Varun I give up whatever weird diet I'm on (according to him all my food habits are weird) and stuff myself with three rotis, large doubles of whiskey and bacon too. So when he told me about this haldi pickle I just had to share with you guys. And believe me, this is just the first of his recipes on V Beauty because I will get him to share more. But for now:
Ingredients:
- Half a kilo of raw turmeric
- 4 cups of mustard oil—2 for cooking and two for pickling.
- 3 teaspoons of asafoetida
- 1 teaspoon each of red chilli powder, coriander powder, cumin powder, and garam masala (mix these in a bowl and keep aside)
- 1 and a half cups of lemon juice
- 2 teaspoons of salt
- An airtight jar, preferably glass or transparent, food-grade plastic.
Method:
- Peel and grate the turmeric and leave it in the sun for about 10-15 minutes, gently turning it over every 3-4 minutes. This is to get rid of excess moisture, and you can do it on a newspaper layered with disposable kitchen towels.
- In a deep pan, heat 2 cups of mustard oil till it begins to smoke. turn off the gas and let it smoke for another 2 minutes.
- At this point, the oil will still be quite hot, so add in the asafoetida and the powdered spices mix, give a quick stir, and immediately add in the grated turmeric so that the powdered spice don't burn.
- Mix well so that the spices are well-integrated into the grated turmeric. Now, let the mixture cool. Do not cover it.
- In the remaining 2 cups of uncooked mustard oil, mix 2 teaspoons of salt.
- Put the turmeric mix into the jar and pour in the oil-salt mix over it, and mix all of these well, and add in the lemon juice.
- Securely close the jar and keep this mix in the sun for 5 days. Remember to shake the pickle from time to time to ensure the spices and lemon juice integrates into the mix.
- Enjoy.
Lead image styled by: Eeshan Kashyap