Sweet & Spicy Brinjal Pickle

One day at a friend's place, I tasted brinjal pickle. I liked the sweet and spicy taste of the pickle. I went about hunting for it in every Indian store, but I just could not find it on the counter. So, I decided to make it myself. My friend told me that it is quite a simple procedure to make this pickle and so I decided to give it a try. This is my first attempt at pickle making. The output was really good. I am definitely going to try making different types of pickles now.

Preparation Time : 1-2 hours

Makes : 500 gms bottle

Ingredients :

1/2 kg long purple brinjals / aubergines / eggplants

4 cloves of garlic

1 inch piece ginger

1 cup vinegar

1 cup vegetable oil or any refined oil

1 cup sugar

2 tbsp salt

3 tbsp red chilli powder

1 tsp turmeric powder

1 tsp mustard seeds

for the paste:

3 cloves of garlic roughly chopped

1 inch piece ginger rougly chopped

1 tsp methi seeds

1/2 tsp mustard seeds

1 tsp cumin seeds

Method :

• Wash and dry the brinjals. Then cut them into medium size pieces. Marinate them with 1/2 tsp salt and 1 tsp chilli powder and keep aside.
• Roughly cut the ginger and garlic and keep aside.
• Combine all the paste ingredients together and soak it in 1 cup of vinegar for about 1 hour.
• Strain the vinegar and keep aside and make a paste out of the residue with a little of the strained vinegar.
• Heat 1 cup oil in a pan. Throw in the mustard seeds.
• When they start spluttering, add the chopped ginger and garlic and sauté for a minute or two.
• Then add the ground paste and fry it nicely for about 5 mins to take out all the raw smell of the ingredients.
• To this add, the brinjals, salt and chilli powder and cover and cook for about 5 minutes.
• When the brinjals get a little soft, add the sugar and the vinegar and stir nicely till the sugar is dissolved.
• Keep the flame low and continue to cook the brinjal without covering it till the sugar dissolves completely and the brinjal are softened and the mixture has thickened.
• Remove from heat and let it cool completely. This will take atleast 5-6 hours to cool off.
• Then fill it in bottles or any air-tight container. Make sure you have put in sufficient oil from the pickle in the bottle so that it can be preserved for a longer time.
• Chill it in the refrigerator and serve it with chapatis or with rice and dal.