A Sweet And Spicy Punjabi Pickle Gajar Gobhi Shalgam Achar Recipe made with aromatic spices is THE quintessential winter favorite! A great accompaniment to any meal.
Winter brings its own favorites and soon the local markets will be flooded with gorgeous red and black (deep purple) colored carrots. Red carrots are commonly used for gajar ka halwa and gajar gobhi shalgam ka achar and black carrots for kanji -just the thought of it is makes my taste buds tickle. Gajar Gobhi Shalgam Achar Recipe
Today, I am sharing with you my mom’s recipe that my family has relished for years. We are a pickle-eating family and I grew up eating this achar with makki ki roti and sarson ka saag .
Now onto the recipe!
This sweet and sour achar/relish is made with cauliflower, turnips and carrots. I have used baby carrots for this recipe but feel free to use regular carrots (sliced), baby carrots will get soft in a week. Gajar Gobhi Shalgam Achar Recipe
We begin by blanching the veggies in boiling water. Blanching locks in the flavor and freshness of these veggies and cooks them slightly. After blanching, cauliflower, shalgum and carrots should still have a bit of crunch left in them and later toss the veggies in ice water to stop the cooking process.
Since this pickle is made with red carrots and red carrots are not available in our area, I prefer to add beets to my pickle and believe me as this achar ages, beets add a deep rich color to the veggies. In 2 days, cauliflower and turnip have started to turn red (pic above).
Make sure the veggies are completely dried before adding spices to it, took me a full day to dry my veggies. Achar can get moldy if there is moisture left in the veggies. Mustard oil is a natural food preservative but in this pickle, vinegar is used in combination with mustard oil as a preservative and flavoring agent.
Toss everything together and transfer it to a clean, sterilized, dry ceramic/glass jar. Place jar in the sun to mature.
Enjoy with makki mooli methi ke parathe or makki ki roti and sarson ka saag.
Do give this yummy achar a try and if you happen to make this then share your pics with me @facebook or tag me by using the hashtag #ruchiskitchen (one word) on social media. Would love to hear back from you and would love to see your yummy pictures!
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Gajar Gobhi Shalgam Achar Recipe
INGREDIENTS
VEGETABLES
- 1 kg Cauliflower, washed and cut
- 1 kg Carrots, washed
- 1 kg Turnip, peeled, washed and sliced
- 2-3 small Beets, peeled, washed and sliced (optional)
SPICES
- 1/4 cup Salt
- 2-3 tablespoon Red chili powder (adjust according to taste)
- 5-7 pieces of Black Cardamom
- 1/2 tablespoon Cinnamon Powder or 2 small sticks of Cinnamon
- 10-15 pieces of Cloves
- 2 tablespoon Haldi (Turmeric powder)
- 1 tablespoon Rock Salt (kala namak)
- 2-3 tablespoon Garam Masala Powder
- 1/2 cup Crushed Rai or Rai kuria (optional)
- 4 tablespoon Rai (Mustard seeds)
- 2.5 tablespoon Fennel seeds (Sanuf)
- 3 tablespoon Nigella seeds (kalonji)
- 3 tablespoon Methi dana (Fenugreek seeds)
- 1/2 tablespoon Crushed red chili flakes (optional)
- 1/4 tablespoon Jeera (cumin seeds) (optional)
ASSEMBLING OF ACHAR
- 3/4 cup Crushed Garlic (36 medium sized cloves)
- 3/4 cup Crushed ginger
- 1.25 cup Powdered or grated Jaggery
- 3/4 cup Vinegar
- 2.5 cup mustard oil
INSTRUCTIONS
ASSEMBLING VEGETABLES
- Wash and cut cauliflower.
- Wash carrots. If using full carrots, cut into halves.
- Peel and wash turnips.
- Cut turnips into thick slices.
- For orange carrots, add beets for color. Wear a glove or plastic cover. Peel and cut beets in thick slices. Beets add an earthy flavor to this achar.
BLANCHING VEGETABLES
- Time to blanch veggies - boil water in a pan. Add 1 teaspoon salt.
- Add cauliflower.
- Cover and let it sit in hot water for 2 minutes.
- Use a slotted spoon to transfer the veggies from hot water...
- To a bowl of iced water,
- Repeat the process with other veggies.
- Do not let the veggies sit in hot water for more than 2 minutes.
- Putting veggies in iced water will stop the cooking process.
- Strain the veggies through a strainer.
- Spread the veggies on a paper towel.
- And let them dry for 6-7 hours or for a whole day.
- Veggies must be completely dry by now, transfer them to a bowl.
ASSEMBLING SPICES
- Assemble the spices.
- Toss them in a blender or motor pestle and...
- Pound them coarsely.
- Assemble the whole spices like Rai, Saunf, kalonji, Jeera, and fenugreek to a pan. Leave out the red chili flakes as they will burn easily. Feel free to dry roast cloves and cardamom too.
- Cook on the low flame until slightly toasted. Allow it to cool.
- Grind cooled spiced to its powdered form. Set it aside.
- Vinegar and Jaggery.
- Combine vinegar and jaggery in a pan.
- Bring it to a boil and boil until it forms a thick consistency.
- Add all the coarsely pounded spices ( Rai, saunf mix + cardamom mix + red chili flakes) to the boiling mixture.
- Mix and set it aside. Color of Jaggery will change from brown to black. Taste and adjust salt at this point.
- Measure oil.
- Make ginger paste.
- Garlic paste.
- Heat mustard oil in a pan.
- Add ginger -garlic and cook until light brown in color.
ASSEMBLING ACHAR
- Time to assemble. Pour vinegar-jaggery-spice mixture to the veggies.
- Add ginger-garlic - oil mixture.
- Add Red chili powder.
- Add Cinnamon powder.
- Add salt and other spices..
- Mix, mix and mix until well blended.
- Toss in some sliced beets.
- Store in a clean sterilized air tight glass or a ceramic jar.
- Close the lid and place the jar in full sunlight for 5-6 days to mature.
- After 2 days - because of beets, veggies will start to change color and....
- Achar will be totally submerged in oil. After few days,
- After 5-6 days, flavors of all the spices will marinate as one and the pickle will become soft. Hot and sweet Gajar Gobhi Shalgam ka Achar is ready to be enjoyed with any kind of meal. My personal favorites are makki ki roti and sarson ka saag. 🙂
