Hello! I am super excited as usual to present a brand-new recipe: Mum's New Apple Pickles or Achaar! Like most cultures we also like to pickle fruits and vegetables. Indian pickles are called achaar , are so delicious and can complement any Indian meal that you can think of. These apple pickles are perfectly crunchy when fresh and covered in a delicious mix of spices and oils. The apple pickles tenderize over time and become even more delicious. Are you feeling hungry yet?
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In Fiji we mainly made Mum's Special Mango Pickles in big batches during mango season and ate them throughout the year (click the link for the mango pickle recipe). We also made pickles out of other local Fiji fruits such as lemons (nabbu), starfruits (amrakh), chillies (mircha) and Indian cherries (lasora). While living in California, we have been lucky enough to be able to make the usual mango pickles, lemon pickles and chili pickles. And now are venturing into pickling American fruits and veggies as well! My Nani (maternal grandmother) is pretty creative and she has made pickles from peaches, bitter gourd as well as an American vegetable mix (recipe for that coming soon) !
This week we made Mum's New Apple Pickles! They are so tasty and exceeded even my own expectations. The apples were perfectly crisp, slightly sweet and tangy and covered in our special achaar masala and oils! Really reminded me of mango pickles but different in a good way. I ate several right away. Lol. This is a small batch recipe but you can certainly make a bigger batch and enjoy for several months! This is so easy to make though that I would recommend making small batches and enjoying them fresh! We used Granny Smith apples for their tartness but I think that any crisp apple with a slight tang could work. Let me know in the comments if you try another type of apple. SO first we slice and core the apples.
Then we salt them for about 10 minutes. After rinsing the salt, we sun dry them for about an hour to slightly dehydrate them and also to get rid of excess moisture.
Then a collection of whole spices are toasted and then coarsely ground in a spice grinder. You also need coarsely crushed or minced garlic and some mustard oil.
The next steps are super easy. Just bring in the sun-dried apples and add ground spices, garlic, chili powder, mustard oil* and salt. Then mix well to combine and now you have Mum's New Apple Pickles or Achaar!
The achaar can be enjoyed right away (I ate several right out of the mixing bowl). Or you can serve them as a side to any number of Indian style dishes such as Mum's Classic Dhal, Mum's Famous Chicken Curry, Mum's Lamb Curry or Mum's Green Bean Curry! There are so many dishes to explore on Cooking with Mum so please browse away! If you are an adventurous eater, you can certainly try eating achaar with any type of dish! Keep scrolling for the full recipe with measurements or watch the YouTube video tutorial!
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Watch YouTube video tutorial:
Recipe
Prep time 1 hour
Mix time 15 minutes
Serves 4
Ingredients
2 apples
1 tbsp salt + 1 tsp extra
1/4 cup mustard oil*
3 tbsp achaar/pickle masala
1 tbsp coriander seeds
1 tsp fenugreek
1 tsp onion seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp fennel seeds
2 tbsp Kashmiri chili powder
6 cloves coarsely crushed garlic
Method
Wash and slice each apple into 12 slices. Remove the core. Add salt and let sit for 10 minutes.
Wash off salt. Arrange apple slices upright on a sheet pan and sun-dry for 1-2 hours.
In the meantime, collect whole spices and toast them lightly on medium heat. Do not burn/brown the spices. Just lightly toast them.
Grind up toasted spices coarsely in a spice grinder. This is your achaar masala.
Store what you don't use for this recipe in an airtight container.
Once apples have sun-dried, place them in a mixing bowl and add the achaar masala, mustard oil, garlic, Kashmiri chili powder (for slight spice and color. Please add according to your spice tolerance) and salt.
Mix well so that all the apple slices are coated in the achaar masala oil and spice mix.
Add more salt if needed at this point.
The apple pickles are done and can be served right away as is or as a side dish with meals.
Store in an airtight container in the fridge and the pickles will last for several weeks. For longer term storage, sun-dry apples for a longer period of time.
*Author's Note: Recently, I discovered that in the US, mustard oil is not used for cooking purposes and is for external use only. So you can substitute another type of oil in this recipe such as a good olive oil. However, if you want to use mustard oil, please read this well-written article describing the history of mustard oil in the US and where to purchase food-grade mustard oil https://www.seriouseats.com/mustard-oil-guide.
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