Pickle – Garlic Chili Achar (Nepali Food Recipe)

(Garlic Chili Achar -Lasun Khursani Ko Achar)
INGREDIENTS:

• 1.5 cups garlic cloves, peeled
• 1/4 cup sesame seeds
• 1/4 cup mustard seeds
• 1 tablespoon cumin seeds
• 1 tablespoon coriander seeds
• 1 teaspoon timur (Szechwan pepper)
• 2 tablespoons hot chili paste
• 2 tablespoons tamarind paste
• 5 tablespoons mustard oil, or good olive oil
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• Pinch of asafetida
• Salt to taste

Garnish:

• 1 tablespoon mustard oil, or olive oil
• 1 teaspoon fenugreek
• 10 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
• 10 dry red chilies
• 1 tablespoon mint leaves, minced

DIRECTIONS:

• In a pan, toast sesame seeds, cumin, coriander and mustard seeds.
• Spread out on a paper towel to cool down.
• Grind to a powder.
• In boiling salted water, blanch garlic cloves for about five minutes to soften and remove intense garlic rawness.
• Strain garlic cloves from the blanching water and place in a bowl filled with ice to prevent from being further cooked.
• After ice bath, drain and reserve in a clean bowl.
• Slowly dry-roast sesame, mustard, cumin, and coriander seeds until toasted.
• In a blender, mix all the ground toasted seeds, timur, chili and tamarind paste, oil, black pepper, asafetida, and salt into a thick pickle paste.
• Pour the pickling mixture into the blanched garlic; mix well.
• For garnish, in a non-stick pan heat one tablespoon of oil, splitter fenugreek and dry red chilies until it turns dark.
• Add slices of garlic and fry till light brown.
• Pour the garlic-oil mixture and minced mint over the garlic pickle.
• Mix well and put in airtight jar.
• Allow one week for the marination of garlic cloves in the pickling mixture within the jar before serving.

Source: http://nepalicooking.tripod.com./achar.htm
Author: Tulsi Regmi