MY MOTHER'S RECIPE - GOBHI-GAJAR-SHALGAM MEETHA ACHAR

I’m the custodian of my mother’s gobhi-gajar-shalgam pickle recipe! Me and my sister were very fond of this sweet - sour pickle of cauliflower, carrot and turnip all rolled in tasty sweet and sour onion- garlic - ginger masala in our childhood and even now. 😋 With this pickle ,  winter breakfasts were all sorted. Almost on all winter weekends and any other holidays, when it's time for lazy morning breakfast, the stuffed parathas with this achar were the best to tinkle the taste buds and the soul satisfying experience. The tradition continued when we had our own families. All of our four children were very fond of this sweet and sour pickle.

With children flown away to find their place in the big wide world, this tradition was almost forgotten in my and my sister's homes. Mom have gone back to the other world. As a custodian of family tradition, I revived this tradition of preserving the "art of pickling" which motivated my elder sister too (the owner of this blog) to make this pickle this year after almost two decades. 

Here is the pickle story in pictures. Please follow and make the necessary changes as per your taste and availability of ingredients. There is no standardization of ingredients and that's the beauty of home cooking. This is the reason, why every dish has different taste every time unlike restaurant where the taste remains the same every time. It's as much a science as  an art to make pickles.  

The pictures below depict the proper sequence and quantities of spices and extent of frying of onion garlic ginger mixture for 3 kgs. of vegetables. 

Ingredients:

  
  

Almost 1 kg of jaggery , 1 cup vinegar and 400 gm of mustard oil is sufficient for 3 kg of mixed vegetables.We also need coarsely grounded rai, red chilly powder, garam masala and salt to taste. Three tablespoons of rai seeds are grounded coarsely. Approximately 750 gm of onion, 2 medium size garlic and 150 gm ginger is recommended. This is what I have used. But as I said, you may change the quantities as per your taste and availability of ingredients. 😊 Wash and cut vegetables in medium size pieces and sun dry it. If it's not sunny, you can dry them under the fan. Spread the washed and cut vegetables on a clean thick cloth which absorbs water. It will fasten the process of drying.

Add jaggery. Once jaggery is melted and masala has the smooth consistency, add red chillies, garam masala and salt. The salt should be slightly more as it acts as preservative and it's taste will be countered by jaggery. Now mix the dried vegetables well in the ready masala.

                  

Add rai and vinegar after it's cooled to normal temperature. And lo, your sweet and sour gobhi- gajar-shalgam achar is ready. Keep it in sun. It's ready to eat in 3-4 days.  Relish your stuffed pranthas with this pickle which is straight from my mother's recipe !

Bon Appetit !