Green Chilli Pickle

Its winters and no Indian meal is complete without a home made spicy pickle. Last Sunday for the first time i went to the local vegetable market near by. In India we call it hatt, its a weekly market, which usually sells more or less each and every item required in your daily chaos. So, while i was totally mesmerized by the freshness and the colours of the vegetables sold there and somehow i just couldn't get my eyes off this huge heap of green chilies. So i got some home and didn't really know what to do with them as i didn't want it to go bad. So, finally i decided to make a green chilly mustard pickle. This pickle is quite a staple in Assamese meals but the version i am doing has a major influence of north India.

Its a very simple recipe and now i swear by it.

Ingredients

• 250 gms - Fresh green chilies
• 01 cup - Mustard powder ( you can use the regular black or even the yellow  ones)
• 01 tsp - Turmeric powder
• 01 tsp - Onion seeds (kalonji)
• 01 tsp - Fennel seeds (saunf)
• 1/2 tsp - Fenugreek seeds 
• 01 cup - Mustard oil 
• Salt to taste 
• Juice of  03 lemons.

Method

1. Wash & dry the green chilies really well so that no trace of moisture is left.
2. Cut them into 1" long pieces. keep aside.
3. Grind the mustard seed to a fine powder.
4. Take a clean jar and put the cut green chilies and the mustard powder along with salt and turmeric powder. mix well and keep it in the sun for a day.. 
5. After day 1, add lemon juice & again keep it out in the sun for another day.
6. On day 2, heat mustard oil in a wok till really hot. Switch of the flame and let the oil cool. And then add the fennel seeds, onion seed and fenugrrek seed let it crakle while the flame is still off.
7. Let the oil cool completely pour it in the jar of green chilies.
8. Sun in fr another day and the pickle is ready to eat.
9. This pickle tastes best with Dal & rice.

Note 

- if the sun is really strong the process takes only 2 days.The lemon juice and oil process can be done on the same day in a gap of 4-5 hours.