Aam ka Achar, oil-less

It was that simple always at home. Come back from school and food was there to be eaten already on the dining table. Life was so simple and easy. We had a huge verandah where we would play, laugh, run, eat and do all sorts of masti. On sunny days, straight back from school when mummy had not yet returned from school, we would go to the corner shop and have the famous Campa Cola, which was the soft drink brand way back then before the advent of the foreign players Pepsi and Coco-Cola.

While on almost all occasions, our verandah was used for us to play games – you name it and we played it all – hand cricket , badminton, stapoo, skipping, ‘pakdam pakdai’ referred as Chain Chain otherwise. And not to forget the most laughable Chhuppan chhuppai, you might know it as ‘Hide and Seek’. Those days still so fondly remembered by me. When I was a tom boy, a girl wanting to play all out door games, with short hair and trying to imitate my elder sister, Didi, by wearing long earrings. Oh what fun it used to be. Such carefree days and my cycling to longer distances alone was my most cherished sport.

While we used to play in every inch of the house available, a part of the verandah was always occupied by ma’s preparation of her famous aam ka achar (mango pickle) in summers, nimbu ka achar (Lemon pickle) and khatta metha achar (Sweet and sour pickle) in winters. 

Oh I forgot to mention the potato chips being dried in the sun on a manji (string bed used in olden days). How delicious these chips use to turn out. These were dried and then stored in canisters and whenever we use to be hungry, ma would quickly fry them till golden yellow and the sprinkle salt, chilli powder and chaat masala and serve us. Yum was the name. Taste still lingers on

Getting too tempted, time to share some recipes with you. Didi had an eating disorder which medically is called anorexia and bulimia. But there was a time she was a big foodie and enjoying chat-pata khana was so much enjoyed by her. I am just imagining her having gol-gappas. She use to love them. But then later she stopped eating all these things. So, Ma used to then make achars with no oil, sharing that recipe with you today:

Aam ka Achar, oil-less

Ingredients:

• 1 kg raw mango
• 200 gms salt
• Red chilli powder
• Hing (Asafoetida) 

Method:

Take raw mango. Peel it and cut in small pieces by removing the seed. Dry them well by spreading them over a clean and dry surface, Mix together Salt, red chilli powder, hing. Rub this mixture on the cut and dry mango pieces, put these in a jar and leave it for a few days in the sune.

Then its ready to be eaten and relished.

Tips

#1 Always make pickles and clean hands – washed with soap and water and then completely dried before any ingredient is handled. Water is the worst enemy for these pickles

#2 When these are kept in the sun, they have to be really looked after and taken care every day. You can’t ignore them. Keep them out in the sun everyday and every night get them inside till they are ready

#3 Remember to shake the jar every day till it is being put in the sun. Otherwise the masalas will settle at the bottom and all the pieces may not get the true flavours.