Cranberry hot & sweet pickle

Cranberry shows up during Thanksgiving and Christmas in most of the US houses , as it is a tradition to serve this fruit as a sweet jelly along with dinner. It is considered to be one of the healthiest fruits.
Cranberry jelly can be bought from any stores. I love the way how this is conveniently available in all seasons in cans. Just pour the jelly straight out of the can into a cute bowl and it's done , you got a side dish !

Even though I too love this convenient can of jelly, I love to buy this in the fresh form also.
I made a hot and sweet Indian pickle out of it this week and it is one of the yummiest pickles I have ever made. We love the taste very much and in my view this tastes like mango pickle. Try this and let me know ! Click to see my spicy cranberry pickle too.

Cranberry pickle with roti and broccoli usili.

mortar to powder the masalas

Hot and sweet cranberry pickle

Ingredients:
Cranberry - 2  cups (1 small pack)
salt - 2 tbsp
brown sugar - 3 tbsp
sesame oil - 3 tbsp
red chili powder - 1 tbsp
turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Apple cider vinegar - 1 tbsp (preservative)
mustard seed - 1 tsp
hing (asafetida) - 1/4 tsp
Masala to powder:
Mustard seed - 1 tsp
fenugreek (methi seed) - 1/2 tsp
oil - 1 tsp

Method:
Rinse and clean the cranberries.  Using a clean kitchen towel remove the moisture and let dry for few hours or overnight. 
Roast the mustard seed and methi seed using a tsp of oil. Let cool and powder. Keep aside.

Heat the  sesame oil (any cooking oil) in a kadai (wok),   let it start to crackle . At the same time add hing and immediately add the cranberries and  saute till they starts cracking. Cranberry will get thick and mushy now. Add salt.
When the oil starts showing off the edges, add the red chilly powder, turmeric powder, brown sugar, powdered masala and stir well till the raw smell of red chilly powder goes.  Mix vinegar.
Switch off the flame and let the pickle get cool. Store in glass bottles.
Cranberry pickle is ready! Keep it refrigerated.


Serving suggestions:
Serve as side dish with curd rice or chapati.

Carrot sweet pickle

Carrot pickle has become our new favorite now. Carrot is one of my most favorite vegetables. So I used to prepare carrot pachadi (raitha) in order to include more carrots. But recently my hubby dear started preferring cooked foods over raw. So I have to stick with carrot poriyal varieties often. See below for more carrot recipes from my kitchen.  Instead of regular stir fry, I made a pickle using carrot, just like how we do the mango pickle and believe me, this tastes and smells just like mango pickle. This is a sweet version of Tamilnadu pickle. Hope you all love this !

Recipe inspiration : Priya's Carrot pickle. Thanks Priya ! Almost 6 years back while reading your recipe only, I came to know that we can make pickle with carrots too. I kept that in my mind, but now only I tried it :) It tastes amazing dear. Thanks !

Carrot pickle with methi thepla and beetroot raita

Peel and cut the carrots in to rounds.

Chop into small squares. I have used a Vidalia onion chopper from 'Bed Bath and Beyond '  stores. That makes the chopping easier.

chopped carrot.

My homemade puliyotharai powder. I always keep this in freezer.

Lime / lemon for pickle

Sauteed carrot

Add jaggery or brown sugar, salt after the carrot is almost cooked.

Switch off and let cool. add lemon juice.

Store the carrot pickle in  an airtight container. 

carrot pickle with methi thepla and beetroot pachadi.

Sweet carrot pickle
Ingredients:
Carrot - 2 big (300 gm)
brown sugar - 1 tbsp (heaped)
red chili powder - 1 tsp
sesame oil - 1/4 cup
mustard seed, fenugreek seed - 1/2 tsp each
hing powder - 1/4 tsp
salt - to taste (1.5 tsp)
lemon  1 1/2 (big)

To powder : (puliyotharai powder) *
Methi / fenugreek seed - 1/2 tsp
mustard (kadugu) seed - 1 tsp
hing - tiny piece (like a black pepper)

Method:
Peel and rinse the carrots.  Wipe and clean without any moisture. 
Cube the carrots. 
Heat a drop of oil in a wok. Fry the mustard, methi and hing till mustard pops. Powder these together. 
Now heat the 1/4 cup sesame oil in a wok. Add mustard, fenugreek and let the mustard crackle. Sprinkle the hing powder.
Put the chopped carrots and stir well. Cook covered till tender crisp stage. Then add the dry chilly powder, salt and saute.  Put jaggery / brown sugar, prepared powder mix well and switch off.
Add  juice of  1 1/2  to 2 lemons and mix well.Check for salt and let cool completely.
Store in clean bottles. Let cool completely. secure with a lid and keep refrigerated. Stays good for a week to 10 days. (It never lasts longer than that in my house, so I don't know the maximum shelf-life of this pickle). 

Serving suggestion:
Serve as side dish with curd rice or any rice or roti.

Note:
*  I have used a vegetable chopper in this recipe.
It takes less than 5 minutes to cube a lot of carrots, if we use a good quality vegetable chopper.  Believe me, using a vegetable chopper makes our life more pleasant :) 
** I make this powder for puliyotharai  (see ingredients) and keep it in freezer up to 3 months. This is my pickling masala powder as well.
*** Always  use good quality sesame oil  (any oil) in this recipe, because the beta-carotene in the carrot is a fat soluble vitamin and it becomes more available to our body (becomes Vitamin A).  Carrot becomes more nutritious food while cooking.
I have used Lakshmi brand sesame oil here.

Other carrot recipes:
Tomato carrot soup
Carrot kuLi paniyaram
Vegetable uthappam
Moovarna poriyal
Carrot usili
Carrot paratha
Simple beans carrot poriyal
Vegetable biriyani with carrot pachadi
carrot halwa