Abba Achcharu Recipe

Abba Achcharu Recipe

(Mustard Pickle Recipe)

½ cup black mustard seeds

3 cups vinegar

2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon ground turmeric

1 cup peeled shallots or tiny pickling onions

12 fresh red or green chilies

1 cup sliced unripe pawpaw, optional

1 cup green beans, sliced

1 cup cauliflower sprigs

1 cup carrot strips

1 bitter melon, seeded and cut in strips

6 cloves garlic, peeled

1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger

3 teaspoons sugar

Method:

Soak mustard seeds in vinegar to cover overnight.  Next day bring remaining vinegar to the boil with salt and turmeric in a medium-size enamel saucepan.  Put onions in, bring to the boil and boil for 1 minute.  Lift out on slotted spoon and put into a nylon strainer to drain and cool.  Do the same with all the other vegetables.  Allow extra time for the beans, carrots and cauliflower which should be tender but still crisp to bite.  When all vegetables are drained and cooled, put them into a clean, dry bottle or earthenware jar.  In electric blender blend the soaked mustard with all the other ingredients.  Mix in vinegar remaining in pan and pour over the vegetables in the bottle, adding more vinegar if necessary to cover vegetables.  Use a jar with a cork stopper if possible.  If jar has metal lid, cover with two thicknesses of greaseproof paper first.  This pickle will keep for months.