Maa Inji Pickle

Maa inji roughly translated as Ginger Mango, resembles ginger but has the taste of raw mango. This is a root vegetable and is perfect for making pickles. The preparation takes time but it worth the effort. The pickle tastes so yumm. As the maa inji doesn't have any sourness in it, lemon juice is added to balance the taste. The addition of oil, salt and red chilly powder ensures that the picke doesn't go bad in a few days. Do not ever place a wet spoon inside the pickle. And make sure that the maa inji stays inside the floating oil layer. This way you need not refrigerate the pickle. It stays good even for a month. This pickle was mom's speciality. She used to make droolworthy pickles and this recipe was given by her. I have updated this post with new pictures.

Ingredients:

Maa Inji-1cup

Red chilli powder-2tbs

Salt-1tbs

Till oil-1/4cup

Lemon-1(extract juice)

Mustard and urad dhal-1tsp each

Hing-1/4tsp

Curry leaves-10

Procedure:

1. Wash maa inji well.

2. Scrape the skin with a knife.

3. Cut it to small semi circles.

4. Heat 1/8cup oil and add maa inji pieces. Stir well until cooked.

5. Add lemon juice, red chilly powder, salt and mix well. When the raw smell of chilly powder is gone switch off flame.

6. In a seperate pan heat the remaining oil and splutter mustard seeds, urad dhal  hing and curry leaves. Add this to the pickle.

7. When cool store in airtight pickle jar.

8.There is no need to refrigerate this pickle because oil and salt work as preservatives. The pickle should be immersed in oil. Do not use wet spoon to take pickle.Use pickle daily. If unattended for more than 2 days fungus will be formed. Follow these simple rules and your pickle will stay for long without refrigeration.