Green Chilli pickle

Its winter time and one can find people making different types of pickle, stacking them for the year ahead. I don't know the trend in Bangalore as there is almost same climate all around the year, but in north one can find glass jars filled with different vegetables like gobhi, carrot, radish, lemons, chillies etc lying in the sun. I went for Diwali to my in laws place in meerut and one day my father-in-law brought about 1 kg of green chillies. He is really found of them and when ever he goes to buy vegetables he is sure not come without them. My mother-in-law frowned as there was already a lot lying in the refrigerator. So it was decided to make pickle out of them otherwise they will get spoiled. I was excited as i was about to learn a new recipe from her and that too a traditional one, as people hardly have time to make pickle at homes especially the younger generation like us. Though large green chillies are usually used for making pickle but we used the normal size that are used daily in kitchen as we had a large stock of them. But if one is planning to make pickle then buy a larger version especially meant for that purpose.
Ingredients used :-

Chilli pickle

1. Green chilli 1 kg
2. Coriander/dhania powder 100gm
3. Garam masala 50 gm
4. Rai powder 250 gm
5. Salt 100 gm
6. Turmeric powder 50 gm
7. Mustard oil (to make thick paste)

First of all clean the chillies and slit them in the middle as shown below. Slit should be made only on one side 

where filling has to be done.

Then take all the ingredients which are required for filling and mix them to form a paste like consistency. One can see in the pic below, that the paste is quite thick and mustard oil is only used as a binding agent. Rai powder is used in the highest proportion as it provides a tangy flavour to the pickle. While the role of salt and turmeric powder is to act as a preservative. Garam masala is flavouring agent as it constitutes a lot of spices in itself.

Fill the mixture in the slit as shown. Store all the chillies in a glass jar and keep them in sun for about a week's time. In case the mixture prepared for filling is left behind then put it in the jar over the pickle, it will settle down and would coat on the sides. People do vary while filling, as some are in habit of filling more and some a little less. Also it varies on the size of chillies as well, so that's not a issue. after all everything gets settle down well when we shake the jar every day.

After a weeks time pickle is ready to eat along with hot and sizzling parathas or can be sided along with roti and sabzi.