After posting back to back Holi recipes both sweet and savory, I wanted to post something spicy. What’s better than pickle right? If you are a garlic lover, then this Cashew Garlic Pickle is for you. :-) Today I am going to share a lip-smacking super spicy cashew garlic pickle, a famous recipe from the states of Andhra and Telangana. This pickle can be prepared within 30 minutes, and this is a perfect side for dal rice and yogurt rice. Like podi, this can be mixed with rice along with ghee or oil. Even though I grew up eating no onion no garlic food mostly, I developed a taste for garlic. Thanks to my dad. :-) Both I and my dad love garlic. My mom and my grandma don’t prefer garlic much, but given the health benefits of garlic, we do use it, but the usage is limited. I love raw garlic and shallots. We love raw garlic and shallots especially with kambu koozh and yogurt rice. During my postpartum, I consumed a lot of garlic too. Ok, the main reason I am insisting on raw garlic is that this pickle uses raw garlic.
It’s All About the Pickle
We have a couple of Telugu friends here in Bay Area as well, and whenever they visit their native or when someone visits them, we get our fair share of goodies too. This time our friend SL, shared uluva chaaru, pappu podi / kandi podi, and this garlic cashew pickle. This garlic cashew pickle was so amazing, and I had it with each and every meal. I love pickles. Period. M, on the other hand, likes them but doesn’t love them like I do. Needless to say, I consumed all the pickle. ;-) SL shared the ingredients used in the pickle, but as her mom prepared this in bulk, she wasn’t sure about the measurements. The foodie in me searched for the recipe right away and tried it at home. I stumbled upon this recipe which is almost similar to what my friend had mentioned. As they soak in the pickle masala, they become soft and tender. But if you don’t prefer them raw, dry roast cashews without oil and sauté garlic in oil till they become soft and tender. (Thanks to SL for suggesting this idea) I tried shooting a video of this recipe, and here it is,
Cashew Garlic Pickle Recipe
Ingredients:
Broken Cashew Pieces – ⅓ cup Garlic – ½ cup (scant) Methi Powder – 1 tsp Lemon Juice – ¼ cup Red Chilli Powder – 2 tbsps Salt – 2 tsps Mustard powder – 1 tsp Oil – 2 tbsps Mustard Seeds – ½ tsp Urad Dal – ½ tsp Channa Dal – ½ tsp Red Chilly – 2 (broken into pieces) Curry leaves – few ( 5 to 6 leaves)
Prep – Work:
Squeeze about ¼ cup of lemon juice from1 big lemon or 2 medium sized lemons. If you don’t have mustard seed powder, you coarsely dry grind 2 tsps of mustard seeds and set aside 1 tsp for this recipe. Peel the garlic skin and set aside.
Steps:
In a wide glass bowl or heat-resistant bowl, add the lemon juice. To that, add the red chili powder, mustard powder, methi powder and salt. Mix them well and make sure there aren’t any lumps. Now add the cashew and garlic and mix them well and ensure the garlic and cashews are coated with the pickle mix. In a separate tempering bowl, heat the oil. Once the oil is hot, add the mustard seeds, urad dal, channa dal, broken red chilly and curry leaves. As they start to splutter, add this tadka to the pickle and mix well.
That’s it. Spicy garlic cashew pickle is ready. Serve hot with rice.
Notes:
If you don’t prefer raw garlic cashew, Dry roast cashew without any oil until golden brown Saute garlic in about 1 tsp of oil until it is golden brown. Add these to the pickle mix. Adjust salt and spice as per the sourness of the lemon juice and also as per your preference. I did not add any asafetida here. But about ½ tsp can be added. Whole cashews can be used. As I had cashew pieces in my pantry, I went ahead with that. Instead of lemon juice, tamarind juice can be used too. But I haven’t tried this recipe with tamarind juice.
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📖 Recipe
