INDIAN PICKLES

[Masala Mojo]

Friends,

I do not know but I want to know , "How many of you have tried fiery Indian chilli peppers based pickles like Mango in Red chilli pepper powder and mustard in oil?
It not only is a big surpeise but a welcome change from usual western pickles.

Today, I prepared HOT THAI peppers pickle in oil with mustard .
It was pickled about 15 days back and today, I prepared the chutney form in a blender.
Taste is deadly and wonderful.

This pickle is my life line when I have my daily Indian food fare for adding to curries and Rice.

NJA

 

[Masala Mojo]

I have bought a few chutneys and pickles of Patak's, and, not knowing what else to do with them, ate them on pappadams. MMMM< methinks I need to visit the asian market again....while all of them had some heat, I do not recall that chilies were the first ingredient. It has been a few years since I had them. I found my indian cookbook, so I shoule really study it again and make a grocery list!

celeste,

Like "curry", word 'chutney" has been twisted, turned and over turned by world outside of India. In India, chutney means paste of sorts. It can be sweet, sour, spicy or Hot.
Over here and in UK, chutney means a relish , a sweetish pickle.This again is a "gift" from the British.

I hope you get the broad picture now.

NJA

 

[Celeste]

got it. Now, is an Indian "pickle" also a paste? or is it brined vegatables like it the states? Also, in India, how do you use the chutney? is it an ingredient, a spread, a condiment? It seems that at proper Indian restaurants the food is served with naan, and pappadams (eating utensils as well as bread, I know, I watched the natives) and a variety of little dishes with cool and hot condiments, which went well with the entrees, though I was guessing at when and how I should eat them.

Now, the complete list of definitions for "curry" please- we've had some argument on this!

I would prefer to understand all cultures from an insiders viewpoint- it generally makes more sense that way.

 

[Masala Mojo]

got it. Now, is an Indian "pickle" also a paste? or is it brined vegatables like it the states? Also, in India, how do you use the chutney? is it an ingredient, a spread, a condiment? It seems that at proper Indian restaurants the food is served with naan, and pappadams (eating utensils as well as bread, I know, I watched the natives) and a variety of little dishes with cool and hot condiments, which went well with the entrees, though I was guessing at when and how I should eat them.

Now, the complete list of definitions for "curry" please- we've had some argument on this!

I would prefer to understand all cultures from an insiders viewpoint- it generally makes more sense that way.

celeste,

Word " KARI" Is the original Tamil Language word meaning Meat.
KOZI KARI means chicken meat, AATTU KARI means Goat meat. MAATTU KARI means Beef.
They also mean spicy dish made out of say Chicken. It means KOZI KARI.

English people had south Indian capital in My city where I was born MADRAS.
They loved the fiery taste of meats prepared by the locals and KARI was changed to CURRY.

Unfortunately even fiery sauces which Tamils call as SAMBARS or KOZAMBU were also called curry.
This is wrong. They are lentil based sauces.

So now, it should be clear to you what curry is.

CHUTNEY word comes from Sanskrit word CHATAN meaning to lick.
There are four types of food according to ancient SANSKRIT Literature.

Fourfold food are: the food which has to be eaten by mastication, that which has to be sucked out, the food which has to be eaten by devouring, and that which is eaten by licking
The food that is eaten by licking is CHUTNEY.
Generally CHUTNEYS are made out of hot and spicy ingredients like Chilli peppers, Mint leaves,cilantro, Onion, Garlic, added to sweet brown sugar, salt and other spices like cumin etc.
They are made into paste or rough paste or sometimes they are thin runny and sometimes very thick pastes.
But they are all known as chutney form.

There are other side dishes like Raithas, vegetable curry, Lentils Beans etc. There are dals, Kadhi which is yogurt based sauce and so on.
These are all given as side dish in a plate meals called THALI.
It all depends upon what type of INDIAN restaurant you are goin =g to.
There is a lot of ignorence about INDIAN FOOD.
India is a huge country with hundreds of different type of foods available .
Chief are,
NORTH indian food
West Indian Food
East Indian Food
AND
South Indian food.
They are totally different from each other like THAI food with Middle Eastern food.
So you need to identify where you are eating.

Any question, and I will always be ready to answer you.
You need to just ask.
Thanks

NJA

 

[Celeste]

Thank you Mr. NJA, that is most helpful. It is also true of Chinese food and American food- there are many different types, and different versions of things with the same name, depending on location.

Every region develops its own taste, it seems!

 

[The Hot Pepper]

NJA I like Goan (Portuguese) Indian dishes like vindaloo! I like Indian food in general but would love to explore the regions of India to eat! Rogan josh, tandoori chicken and kebabs, and keema matar (or mattar) are some dishes I like. I like to eat the keema matar in nan (or naan) bread.

Also please correct my spelling. I've seen these listed with multiple spellings.

 

[Masala Mojo]

Thank you Mr. NJA, that is most helpful. It is also true of Chinese food and American food- there are many different types, and different versions of things with the same name, depending on location.

Every region develops its own taste, it seems!

celeste,

Sorry but your understanding may not be correct.
In India, every region has different names and different foods. South India does not have Tandoori chicken. North Inida does not have Biriyani. They have pulao or pilaff.

I had a bad experience 4 years back in Boston. I was dining out with my son in law and daughter.
I ordered for mulligatawny soup and rice for my son in law and I ordered for dal and rotis.
This was an Indian eatery owned by Punjabis.
I specifically asked them if they had authantic mulligatawny soup. I was told that they served authantic food .

When the food was served, I wanted to check if they had served correct food.
To my horror, they has served thick lentil dal with tadka to my son in law.
I tasted it and found that it was indeed tadka dal. I called for the manager and asked him what they had served. He said mulligatawny soup sir.

I was furious and lost my cool. My daughter knows my temper when such cheating happens. She asked me to cool down.
I asked the owner of the joint if he knew what was mulligatawny soup. He started mumbling and fumbling .
It turned out that they never knew what it was . Just because American customers were asking for it, they used to give Tadka dal instead. And that is why they had put it on menu card.

So unless you are sure, please do not order for a strange dish. Please conduct a research on the net for recipe and then know how it would be atleast before ordering.
Never order for south Inidan dishes in any North Indian restaurant.

Coming back to regions. every region has totally different dishes except for a few regions like MP, UP Gujarat, where dishes are somewhat similar named.

NJA

NJA

 

[Masala Mojo]

NJA I like Goan (Portuguese) Indian dishes like vindaloo! I like Indian food in general but would love to explore the regions of India to eat! Rogan josh, tandoori chicken and kebabs, and keema matar (or mattar) are some dishes I like. I like to eat the keema matar in nan (or naan) bread.

Also please correct my spelling. I've seen these listed with multiple spellings.

THP,

I would request you to go to Inida atleast once and taste authantic dishes prepared there.
What you get here is generally watered down version.

NJA

 

[Nova]

My father went to india once, said that everything tasted like spicey diesel. How i could slap him!

 

[POTAWIE]

Has anyone tried grocery store Indian relishes like Patak's extra hot pickled mango? I just saw these recently and really should have purchased them. I realize they likely aren't as good as home-made authentic/traditional types but since I don't plan on going to India in the near future I thought this might be interesting and different. So far I've enjoyed the products made by Patak's but I must admit that I really have no clue about Indian food.

 

[Celeste]

I do understand, NJA, that different regions have different dishes. So far as I know, Toasted ravioli and Gooey butter cake are St. Louis inventions that have not been experienced in other states.

There are some places where different dishes will have the same name, however, but be prepared very differently according to region (In America, one of these is barbecue. In the Middle East, its Halwah). It is interesting that there is such a sharp difference in food between the regions.

I will do more research now that I know! (I wonder if the food I have had is Northern or Southern?) Dals are common to all regions, are they not?

 

[Masala Mojo]

Dals are common to all regions, are they not?

Dals as they are known, are common to Northern, eastern and western India. Though pigeon pea lentils are used exclusively by West, Middle and Southern India.
In south, they make sauce called SAMBAR which IMHO is derived from Indonesian SAMBAL.

Blackgram dal is common in Punjab, Gujarat as a dal but in south as an ingredient. Except VADA it is not used exclusively.

NJA

 

[J762]

I just found some mango chili pickle at the local asian market today. Amazing... I never thought I would like pickled mango, but hot damn it's good. I'm definitely going to have to try a bunch of different types now, and also try making some once this years crop comes in.
Thanks for the tip off on this stuff.

 

[The Hot Pepper]

I get Indian mango pickle near me. It tastes like it has apple pie spices in it. NJA can chime in on what that would be. Maybe clove, cinnamon, vinegar...

 

[Masala Mojo]

I get Indian mango pickle near me. It tastes like it has apple pie spices in it. NJA can chime in on what that would be. Maybe clove, cinnamon, vinegar...

"INDIAN MANGO PICKLE" is a very broad phrase.
You need to be specific on lable thing.
Does it say CHHUNDO? Then it is a sweet relish of grated mango and clove. cinnamon and chilli powder.

Please let me know what it says on the label. If possible, please let me know manufacturer's name . This will give me all answers.
Does it have ingredient's list?

NJA

 

[The Hot Pepper]

It wasn't commercial bro, it was just served with the food on the side. Tasted like mangoes, clove, cinnamon, and vinegar. Even though it was mango it almost tasted like apple with that spicing. Cheers.

 

[Masala Mojo]

I just found some mango chili pickle at the local asian market today. Amazing... I never thought I would like pickled mango, but hot damn it's good. I'm definitely going to have to try a bunch of different types now, and also try making some once this years crop comes in.
Thanks for the tip off on this stuff.

Again, Pickled Mango is a broad term. Best ever pickled mango is from South IOndia " AVAKKAI" is the name of the pickle.
Yoou need really sour mangoes with lotsa fiber to make it.

NJA

 

[NoVa Hothead]

The version I got from a coworker was very different from the descriptions above, which would fall in line with NJA's discussion around the different ways in which "pickle" is used in describing Indian condiments. The version I got was primarily chunks of green mango with chili mash.

 

[Masala Mojo]

The version I got from a coworker was very different from the descriptions above, which would fall in line with NJA's discussion around the different ways in which "pickle" is used in describing Indian condiments. The version I got was primarily chunks of green mango with chili mash.

If the worker who got you the pickle is from Gujarat, then it is "KHATTI KERI" sour Mango pickle. If he is from South India, then, it is AVAKKAI. It is HOT.

NJA

 

[NoVa Hothead]

You mean it WAS hot!

 

[Masala Mojo]

You mean it WAS hot!

I meant, if it is Avakkai, it IS HOT (ALWAYS)