Stuffed Red Chilies Pickle

Ingredients

Ingredient	Weight/Measure
Red Chilies (Large, sound)	1 kg
Salt	100 g
Mustard Oil	250 ml
Amchur (Dry Mango Powder)	50 g
Mustard Seeds (Rai)	20 g
Cumin Seeds (Jeera)	2 g
Cloves (Laung)	2 g
Cinnamon (Dalchini)	2 g
Black Cardamom (Badi Elaichi)	1 g

Method

1. Select sound, fully developed, and large-sized red chilies. Wash the red chilies thoroughly under running water.
2. Spread the washed chilies on a clean piece of cloth and allow them to air-dry completely until all moisture evaporates. This step is crucial to prevent fungal growth.
3. Remove the stalks from the chilies. Carefully make a vertical slit along one side of each chili and gently remove and reserve the seeds.
4. Roast and finely grind the whole spices: mustard seeds, cumin seeds, cloves, cinnamon,
5. In a bowl, combine the freshly ground spices with the amchur, salt, and the reserved chili seeds.
6. Heat about 50 ml (a small portion) of the total mustard oil until it reaches its smoking point, then let it cool slightly. Pour this warm oil over the spice-salt-seed mixture and mix well to form a thick, cohesive filling.
7. Thoroughly fill the spice mixture into the prepared red chilies. Pack the stuffed chilies tightly into clean, sterilized glass jars.
8. Keep the jars in the sun for 3-4 days to cure the pickle.
9. After curing, pour the remaining mustard oil (200 ml) over the chilies, ensuring the pickle is completely submerged under the oil. This acts as a preservative. The pickle is ready to eat after a few weeks.

(Vigyan Prasar)