Spicy Kumquat Pickle Achar
Spicy Kumquat pickle achar is a hot, sweet and sour condiment that can be eaten with any meal and can be easily made at home using pantry staple spices.
Equipment
Ingredients
Soaking ingredients
- 1.5 litre water lukewarm
- 15 ml bicarbonate of soda also called baking soda
Pickle achar mix
- 1.25 kg kumquats
- 25 ml salt, approximately 5 teaspoons
- 5 ml turmeric powder, approximately 1 teaspoon
- 60 ml chili powder, approximately 4 tablespoons
- 30 ml cumin seeds, approximately 2 tablespoons
- 15 ml coriander seeds, approximately 1 tablespoons, lightly crushed
- 45 ml fenugreek seeds, approximately 3 tablespoons, coarsely ground
- 500 ml sugar, approximately 2 cups
- 500 ml vinegar, approximately 2 cups
- 125 ml corn flour, approximately 1/2 cup
- 125 ml water
Tempering mix
- 375 ml sunflower oil, approximately 1 1/2 cups
- 30 ml mustard seeds, approximately 2 tablespoons
- 8 green chili’s slit
- 10 cloves garlic half sliced, half grated
- 5 ml asfoetida powder, approximately 1 tsp
- 2 bunches curry leaves
Instructions
Soaking
- Place the kumquats in a medium size non-reactive or glass bowl and remove any fruits with mouldy spots or small lesions as this will cause the entire batch to decay.
- Cover with 1.25 litres lukewarm water and add the bicarbonate soda and mix through until dissolved.
- Leave the fruit to soak for 20 minutes then place in a strainer, rinse under running water and drain. This should remove any dirt, mould spores and other residues.
- Allow the fruits to air dry or dry them lightly with kitchen paper before use.
How to prepare the kumquats
- Remove the green stem and slice each kumquat lengthways from the middle to the bottom end, without cutting them in half.
- Place all the cut kumquats in a large non-reactive stainless steel or glass bowl, then sprinkle over the salt, turmeric, chili powder, cumin seeds, coriander seeds and fenugreek seeds.
- Toss the fruits in the bowl to ensure the spices are distributed evenly and allow to sit while you prepare the other items.
- Mix the corn flour and half cup water together in a cup ensuring there are no lumps.
- In a large pot, bring the vinegar and sugar to a boil then add the corn flour and water slurry, whisking continuously to ensure it doesn't clump.
- After 2-3 minutes when the vinegar mixture has thickened and the corn flour is cooked, add the kumquats and cook for a further 2 minutes on low heat to allow the spices and vinegar mix to infuse, then remove from the heat.
Tempering the spices
- Heat a clean dry pot over medium-high heat with the oil and when it shimmers add the mustard seeds, chilis, garlic, asfoetida and curry leaves then reduce the heat to medium.
- The mustard seeds will pop and the chilis, garlic and curry leaves may sputter so take care when tempering the spices.
- This should take no more than 2-3 minutes and you must remove from the heat before the garlic turns brown or the spices burn.
- Add the hot oil mixture to the kumquat and vinegar / corn flour mixture and mix through with a big spoon until it forms a thick emulsified coating.
- Allow the kumquat pickle achar to cool before decanting into sterilized preserving jars.
- Store at room temperature and up to 2 months before use. Refrigerate after use.
Notes
- The same recipe may be used for mango pickles.
- You may remove the pips when cutting the kumquats but this may destroy the fruit so I didn't bother.
- Ensure that the pot used for the vinegar mixture is large enough to add the tempered mixture to later.
- I used 1 cup white grape vinegar and 1 cup apple cider vinegar, although you may use only white vinegar. Do not use brown grape vinegar or all apple cider vinegar as it may make the end result a dark brown color.
- I substituted fenugreek seeds, turmeric and asfoetida for methi masala.
Nutrition
Calories: 188kcalCarbohydrates: 23gProtein: 1gFat: 10gSaturated Fat: 1gSodium: 408mgPotassium: 135mgFiber: 3gSugar: 15gVitamin A: 545IUVitamin C: 16.3mgCalcium: 42mgIron: 1.7mg
Disclaimer: Nutritional information for the recipe is an approximation and varies according to the ingredients and products used.
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