Instant Dosavakaya (Dosa Avakai) | Yellow Cucumber Pickle Recipe

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Is it mid-December 2012 already. 11 more days (if earth survives the doomsday tomorrow, as per Mayan's prediction ;-) ) to New Year 2013. Yay! Shouldn't we all be ideally wrapped in out best woolen ware and lightly shivering with cold. Well, that's definitely not the case in Hyderabad right now where the sun is shining high during the day time. I have to admit though that its quite foggy and cold during the nights. 

There is a certain thrill in making and posting a pickle recipe in winter days. Isn't it? a small way to enjoy a ray of summer, a little early. :-)

It has been almost 2 weeks that I posted a recipe. It was a time-off taken deliberately to re-evaluate the priorities in my life. Time, as we all know is limited in hand and there is so much I want to do with it. One of the many little things I love to do is Read. A good book cheers me up instantly and I often feel very sad once its over. There are far too many not-so-good books out there. So, the plan is to go back to reading classics in coming months. Right now, I am deep into Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier. Its a riveting tale of an unnamed protagonist, her fears to start a new life in a grand estate "Manderley" which is a central character in itself. The entire place is explained in such fascinating detail that almost every scene comes alive right in front. A great recommendation for fiction-lovers out there. 

The inspiration for this recipe is my Mom, who is also the model for this pic. :-)

Coming to today's recipe - Instant Dosavakaya (Dosa Avakai) (Yellow Cucumber Pickle). To be honest, this pickle is almost on the same lines as this Instant Mango Pickle I posted early this summer, just the proportions are different. You can substitute the cucumber with any firm vegetable like cauliflower and yield the same delicious results.

Enjoy!

Wash, dry, cut into halves, deseed and chop the cucumber into small pieces. 

Mix all the ingredients in the right proportions and Voila, the pickle is ready!

{Recipe} Instant Dosavakaya (Dosa Avakai) | Yellow Cucumber Pickle

Ingredients:


3 cups yellow cucumber (dosakaya), deseeded and cut into small pieces (choose firm ones)
1 cup red chilli powder
3/4 cup mustard powder (grind black mustard seeds into a coarse powder)
3/4 cup of salt
2 tbsp fenugreek-cumin powder (dry roast cumin seeds and fenugreek [methi] seeds separately. grind them together into powder)
1 cup vegetable oil.

Tadka - 1 tbsp oil + 1 tsp each of urad dal, mustard seeds and cumins seeds + 2-3 cloves of garlic + 2 red chillies


Preparation:


1. In a pan, warm 1 cup of oil. Keep aside.

2. In a large bowl (make sure it is bone dry) add cucumber pieces, chilli powder, mustard powder, salt, methi-cumin powder. Mix with a dry spatula/spoon until the pieces are evenly coated with the spices. Then add warm oil.  Toss everything together.

3. Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a wok and add the tadka ingredients one by one. Let them splutter. Turn off the heat and add to the pickle mixture. Mix well. Don't refrigerate the pickle immediately. Cover and keep the container outside, at room temperature so that the excess water oozes out the next day. Give it a good mix couple of times.Taste and adjust the salt to your liking.

4. At the end of second day, the pickle is ready to be devoured along with piping, hot dal and papads.  Store the pickle air tight containers. When refrigerated, this pickle will stay fresh for  more than a month. When kept at room temperature, it will stay good for 1-2 weeks.

Very Important: To make sure at every step of the pickling process, there is absolutely no moisture contact either on the cucumbers or the utensils used. Try to use as much as fresh spices as possible for a fabulous taste.

Make a batch of this super simple pickle and gift it to your  spice-loving friends - a little Indian twist to holidays this year!

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Almost every single day, I get an inquiry from people all around the world about how they can donate and lend a helping hand to the little girls at Vaidehi Ashram. It warms my heart to know that the children are in your thoughts and you want to make a difference to their lives. Just to make things simple and to provide a medium through which one can donate whenever they wish to, I have the below Chipin gateway, open throughout the course of an year. The money collected for every 3 months will be donated to the Ashram authorities, in rupees. For more details - Click here. Let you friends and family know about the same and please feel free to send me an email if you have any comments/queries. Thanks in advance.

Happy Holidays and until next time,