Hi.. Namaskar.. How are you? Hope all are doing good. Here we are fine.
Today I am here with an easy recipe of Dates pickle. I had made dates and lemon pickle before
Many had tried that and asked me if I could show just dates without lemon.
Its and instant pickle that can be consumed soon.
All of you do try it out. Its an awesome combination with biriyani. I had it for the 1st time at a Tellicherry restaurant here.
We dont make this at home. My mother has never made this. Its not a Trissur speciality. Its Malabari
All of you do try it out. Today is my elder son Avis birthday.
Its my best friend Anus birthday too.I thought of posting the video of cake cutting in the behind the scenes.
But then it will be very long. So I shall post the video separately later
Many had asked me what special for Avis birthday. I have made all he likes. I've posted all those videos here
I shall put the links in the description box. Its rice, sambar, ripe mango curry.. What else Avi?
Grilled chicken and a recipe yet to post sweet chilli sauce.
Semiya payasam, stir fries.. I shall post all the links below.
I shall post the video of sweet chilli sauce soon. So without any delay lets see how to make dates pickle.
So lets begin to make our dates pickle. Its called in different names in different areas.
I am going to show you a small quantity. I have taken 250 of dates, removed the seeds and chopped them.
I have kept 5 dates chopped to small pieces separately and the rest to two pieces. Shall tell you what to do later
Take a kadayi and use any oil you like in it. I am going to use gingelly oil here
I like making it in this oil. You may use coconut oil or sunflower oil. Pour some to the kadayi
Since its pickle I am using 4-5tbsp oil. You may increase or decrease as you wish. Let it heat well
Ive kept it on medium flame. Add 1/2tsp mustard seeds.
Add 2 red chillies cut to pieces.
I have reduced the flame to low
Next add some curry leaves. Its a must to reduce the flame. Next we will be adding ginger and garlic.
It will get burnt soon if its in high flame. Add 1tsp chopped ginger.
6 cloves of garlic chopped to small pieces. 4  green chillies chopped finely. Saute all these well on low flame.
You can add it as ginger garlic paste also.Garlic should be more than ginger.
Saute well for 1-2mts till the raw smell goes
This is an easy recipe that can be made anytime. If you are making biriyani tomorrow, you can make this pickle today. It will be perfect by tomorrow.
Our dates and lemon have to be kept in salt for a while. This is easy. The gin garlic should be cooked well.
Otherwise the pickle will get spoilt. I have sauted for 2mts on low flame. Now lets add the masala powders
1/2tbsp chilli pdr. I am showing a small quantity so this will be enough.
That is 1.5tsp chilli pdr. Next add 1/4tsp turmeric pdr and mix well.
It shouldn't get burnt at all. Next add less than 1/4tsp of fenugreek seeds.
This is not roasted, just powdered. If it exceeds, it will taste bitter. Add little asafoetida too.
Even that shouldn't exceed. I have bought that from the shop. Lets stir all these well
We will be adding vinegar next. Some may not like it very sour.
So adjust the measurement according to your taste. I shall first add 1/4 cup of vinegar and then add more if needed.
Its 7tbsp of vinegar. Now we shall add 1/2 glass boiling water to this.
Stir well and add salt as needed. Next add 1/2tbsp sugar to it.
You can substitute sugar with brown sugar, jaggery or any if you like. You might be wondering why sugar in dates pickle?
It needs little sweetness to get the correct taste. Lets increase the flame and boil it well.
I have tasted it. All is correct. When I made the same last day, I added 1tbsp chilli powder and it was spicy.
Then I had to add little more dates to make it ok. Always be careful while adding chilli pdr. We can add more if needed but adjusting is more difficult
The spice and sour is correct. Shall add little more salt and 1/4tsp sugar too.
If you feel the spice is less, roast some chili pdr and add later. Now the gravy has boiled well.
Let it boil for 2mts, then we shall add the big chunks of dates into it.
I have kept the finely chopped dates separately. This will be very soft afer cooking.
So the finely chopped can be added later so that we get to bite some from the pickle.
Here Jan likes it like that. If you like it all soft add all together. Mash it a bit. Only then you can have it instant.
If they are good dates, it will soften soon. The rough ones you get in Kerala can be soaked in hot water for a while and then used
The flame here is medium flame. We will be needing more hot water. Shall add later.
Always add only hot water and never plain water. The dates are cooked well in this vinegar. Lets add 1/2 glass more hot water
This pickle can be prepared in 10mts. As it stays the water will be absorbed. It will not have any gravy later
The dates will absorb the water. Let this cook well. Then we shall add the finely chopped dates
Now its done. Let me taste and see if anything is to be added or not.
You can add vinegar, water, salt sugar or spice if needed.
If you are adding vinegar, off the gas only after it has boiled well.
Now add the finely chopped dates and off the stove. You can even use kashmiri chilli pdr here
I didnt use it now. I used the normal spicy chilli pdr. Here the sweet, sour, spice are all mixed and gives the pickle a good flavour
Its suits well with biriyani. I had it for the first time from a Tellicherry restaurant here in Dubai.
I make this and the lemon dates often. This can be used fast. The other one takes little time
You cant compare both. Thats a different awesome taste.
Now this is ready. There will be small changes in the measurements according to the dates and spice sour level
I have offed the stove. Only few are there to bite. Rest are cooked and mashed well.
Once it cools down we shall transfer it to a glass bottle. This wont get spoilt. If you want you can keep it in a fridge
Only when it cools down transfer to a bottle and never use a wet spoon in it.
Always use a dry spoon and close immediately after use. If its a large quantity, take little in a small bottle for daily use.
Only the one used often will get spoilt. So be careful. All these will help the pickle from not getting spoilt.
So make little first and then see and make more later
Our pickle has cooled down. When I checked the taste I felt sourness less. SO I boiled 4tbsp vinegar, cooled it and added it to the pickle.
Sourness can be judges only after some time. So at present I have added 11 tbsp of vinegar here
You may adjust all the taste this way. It will surely differ according to each ones likes.
Now lets transfer this to a bottle. Its a small quantity. All of you try it out.
Its and easy and tasty pickle. Let me taste it now
I dont know if all will like it. But I like it. Its got sweet, spice and sour together in it.
You will feel like gong on eating it again. All of you do try it out and let me know. SO until we meet with my next recipe.. Thank you..
