This instant chilli pickle will forever be “Gujarati wedding pickle” in my eyes. The mustard seed-flecked chillies and carrots always have a place at the dinner table.

How to serve Athela Marcha (Instant Chilli Pickle)

This fresh and crunchy pickle is delicious as part of a larger Indian meal. At home, we serve it with daily vegetable curries, rotli and plain yoghurt.

On Sunday mornings I love it with a stack of freshly-made Gujarati Thepla and Masala Chai. Style it out and make a Thepla and Athela Marcha rollup, wrap style. It’s a snackable cigar of crunch and happiness!

How to prepare chillies for Athela Marcha

What are some other names for Athela Marcha?

Depending on your location, language and family preferences, you might know this pickle by different names. Some might include:

• Raiwala marcha
• Rai vara marcha
• Athela rai gajar
• Mirchi ki achar

This is by no means an extensive list. If you know this pickle by a different name, let me know in the comments below. I’d love to learn about your version!

The best chilli pickle with mustard seeds

Mustard seeds are a key ingredient in this recipe for Athela Marcha. They provide deep, warming heat and aroma.

What type of mustard seeds should I use Athela Marcha (Instant Chilli Pickle)?

Athela Marcha call for split, skinned mustard seeds, also known as rai kuria. They are available in most Indian food shops or online.

Rai Kuria, also known as Rai dal is mustard seeds with the skin removed, then split. Rai kuria are the main ingredient in making many Indian pickles.

To add mango or not to add mango?

My recipe for Athela Marcha includes raw green mango. My family’s East Africa ties have lead us to create a version of this Gujarati pickle with sour raw mango.

The combination of spicy chilli, crunchy carrot and mouth-puckering mango is simply irresistible.

If you’re not a fan of raw mango, simply add more carrots or chillies instead.

How to store Indian chilli pickle

Almost every ingredient in this pickle serve to aid preservation. Salt, turmeric, citric acid and oil being the core natural preservatives.

Once mixed, pile your instant chilli pickle into a sterilised jar and store it in the fridge. It keeps well for up to 3 weeks.

What can I use instead of citric acid?

Unless you cook Indian food or make a lot of your own preserves, I understand that citric acid might not be a usual store cupboard ingredient for you.

If you don’t have citric acid, don’t buy a whole bag just for the small amount needed in this recipe. Simply replace the citric acid in this recipe with the juice of 2 large lemons.

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In my experience, citric acid keeps the carrots and chillies crunchier for much longer than chilli pickle made with lemon juice.

Athela Marcha (Instant Chilli Pickle) recipe

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Athela Marcha (Instant Chilli Pickle)

Athela Marcha (Instant Chilli Pickle) is a Gujarati-style Indian chilli pickle. Fresh green and red chillies, carrot strips and raw mango make for an amazing condiment.

Course Condiment

Cuisine Indian

Keyword carrots, chilli, condiment, mango, pickle, vegan

Prep Time 25 minutes minutes

Servings 12

Ingredients

• 3 medium-sized carrots peeled and cut into batons
• 2 small raw green mangos cut into batons
• 15-20 mixed green and red chillies
• 40 g skinless split mustard seeds (rai kuria)
• 1/2 tsp asafoetida
• 2 tsp ground turmeric
• 75 ml oil any flavourless
• 1/2 tsp citric acid
• 1 1/2 tsp salt

Instructions

• Heat the oil until it's smoking hot. Allow to cool completely.
• In a large bowl, mix together the carrots and raw mango batons.
• Cut the stalks off the chillies. Slit the chillies lengthways down the centre but don't cut all the way through. If your chillies are large or thick, cut them into smaller pieces and then split lengthways. You can wear gloves if you like.
• Mix together the mustard seeds, turmeric, asafoetida, salt and citric acid.
• Fill the split chillies with the dry mustard seed masala. I use gloves so my nails don't stain.
• Add any leftover mustard seed masala, along with the filled chillies to the cut carrots and mango.
• Pour the cooled oil into the pickle. Use your hands to toss everything well.
• Pile the Athela Marcha (Instant Chilli Pickle) into a clean, sterilised jar. Cover with a tight-fitting lid. Refrigerate and enjoy within 3 weeks.

Pin this recipe for later!

Love Sanjana

The post Athela Marcha (Instant Chilli Pickle) appeared first on Sanjana.Feasts.

I was so desperate to get my mitts on them, I immediately went on a mango hunt after leaving work on Friday. Stepping into the Indian shop closest to my London train station, my eyes darted from shelf to shelf. There were rows upon rows of lentils, spices and green vegetables, but alas, there was not a mango in sight. My heart sank.

As I meandered through the tiny, yet unfathomably packed shop, my nostrils filled with the smell of ajwain, dried turmeric, fenugreek… and then finally, the sweetest scent of fresh mango. There they were, a pile of mango boxes lying in wait like treasure in Aladdin’s cave, except better.

I pounced on them faster than Shere Khan on Mowgli, the man child in Rudyard Kipling’s Jungle Book. As usual, the two mango varieties were Alphonso and Kesar. When given the choice, I get Alphonso. They have more fragrance and a super-lush orange colour.

They were only sold in boxes of twelve so I got the whole lot. The only glitch was that I had to carry the entire box back home. The entire train carriage was filled with the heavenly scent of fresh mango – a welcome change from the stench of somebody’s hot Burger King dinner *shudder*. You’re welcome, fellow commuters. You’re welcome.

After eating three of twelve mangoes, I figured I better whip up one of my favourite desserts before they all disappear. This egg-free Alphonso Mango Pavlova Cheesecake is a true showstopper.

It’s a malted milk biscuit base, sweet mango and vanilla mascarpone cheesecake filling topped with eggless pavlova, fresh cream and all your favourite fruit. This pavlova cheesecake is rich, decadent and unashamedly two of the most awesome desserts ever stacked to make one epic masterpiece.

If you’re a lover of Indian Alphonso mango, this is a glorious way of celebrating it.

Here’s how I did it.

Alphonso Mango Pavlova Cheesecake (Eggless Recipe)
Serves 12-14

Ingredients

For the pavlova layer:
1 x 400g tin chickpeas in water (left in the fridge overnight)
280g golden caster sugar
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
½ tsp arrowroot or cornflour
3 tsp vanilla extract

For the cheesecake base:
260g malted milk biscuits (you could use ginger biscuits or NICE biscuits too)
100g unsalted butter, melted

For the Alphonso mango cheesecake filling:
500g mascarpone cheese
300g full fat cream cheese (I used Philadelphia)
200ml double cream + 100ml extra
450g icing sugar
Juice of 2 lemons
2 tsp vanilla extract
300g Alphonso mango, blended (this was approx. 3 mangos for me)
2 tbsp agar agar powder

For the decoration:
Whipped cream
Mixed fruits of your choice (I used more mango, kiwi, strawberries, grapes, physalis, blackberries and figs)

You will also need a 24cm spring form tin.

Method

1. First, you’ll need to make the pavlova. Preheat the oven to 120C.

2. Take a piece of non-stick baking parchment and draw a circle on it, using the removable base from your cake tin. Flip the paper over and place it on a large baking tray. You now have the perfect outline for your pavlova.

3. Drain the can of chickpeas and reserve the water. Put the chickpeas in a container and use it to make Channa Masala or Hummus later.

4. Pour the chickpea water and vinegar into the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with the balloon whisk attachment. Make sure your bowl is really clean and grease free. Any oil could cause your meringue to deflate.

5. Whisk on a high speed for 4 minutes. Mix together the sugar and cornflour. Gradually add the sugar mixture a tablespoon at a time and continue to beat until you have stiff glossy peaks. Congratulations, you’ve just made your own vegan marshmallow fluff! But right now, we’re making pavlova.

6. Dollop the meringue mixture onto the piece of baking paper, staying inside the circle you traced. Even it out using the back of a spoon, creating a little crater in the middle for your cream and fruit later. I like to keep it looking craggy and rustic so don’t fuss over it looking too perfect.

7. Place into the middle shelf of the oven and immediately turn the heat down to 100C. Bake for 2 hours 30 minutes. Once this time is up, crack the oven door open a little and leave it to cool completely. You’ll then be able to peel it away from the non-stick paper.

8. Next, make the cheesecake base. Blitz the biscuits in a food processor until they resemble the texture of sand. Stir in the melted butter. Press into the base of the tin, making sure it’s even and packed tightly. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

9. To make the cheesecake filling, beat together the mascarpone, cream cheese, 200ml double cream, vanilla, icing sugar and lemon juice. Don’t overwork it.

10. Place the agar agar in a small bowl. Add 2 tbsp cold water and stir to dissolve. In a small saucepan, combine the agar agar and 100ml double cream. Heat gently, stirring all the time until the mixture comes to a boil. You will notice it will begin to thicken. Boil for a minute or so and then switch off the heat. Add the mango pulp and stir to combine. This will lower the temperature of the cream mixture.

11. Add the mango mixture to the cream cheese mixture and whip until fully combined. It should thicken very slightly.

12. Pile the cheesecake filling onto the cooled biscuit base and smooth out the top.

13. Cover tightly and refrigerate overnight.

14. To serve, run a knife around the edge of the cheesecake and remove the sides of the tin. Place onto a cake plate or stand and place the pavlova on top. Fill the crater in the middle with whipped cream and fresh fruit. I recommend more mango, obviously.

Devour immediately.

Note: Wrap your cooled pavlova in foil overnight to ensure it stays crisp for serving the next day.

Love Sanjana

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You might have already seen my previous recipe for Vegan Saffron, Strawberry and Lime Meringue Nests which I did a YouTube video for and still, I’m raving about the endless possibilities aqua faba or ‘bean water’ holds for the future of vegan baking. No longer do I waste and drain away the water from cans of chickpeas, butter beans and pinto beans. Rather, I save them and whip them in to the fluffiest meringue peaks you’ve ever seen.

Just like egg whites, this bean water is packed with protein and when it’s whipped with sugar, becomes glossier than that expensive French manicure you just got.

It’s this that makes glorious desserts like pavlova, eton mess and meringue cakes possible and it’s this that’s lit me up from inside. I’m so hungry to experiment with magic aqua faba more and I can’t wait to share more of these vegan-friendly creations with you.

This recipe is unbelievably basic but the results are slap-you-in-the-face pretty. I promise, everyone will be asking how you did it. I did toy with the idea of using fresh fruit to create the stripes but aqua faba meringue can be quite temperamental. Any trace of grease, oil, excess water or fat will very quickly deflate the mixture and all those beautiful air bubbles will be gone.

Also, I’ve had lots of comments on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram about whether you can taste the chickpeas in the end product. The short answer is no. After adding vanilla, natural fruit extracts and baking for over 2 hours, there’s no trace of chickpea flavour.

If you’re looking to try it with fresh fruit, I’d suggest really blending it to a very smooth puree, boiling with a little sugar and reducing right down so the water content is minimal. Cool it completely before using.

I opted to use natural concentrated mango and raspberry extracts, which you can buy online from Amazon. The flavour they give these otherwise very simple vanilla meringues is so incredibly intense.

Stick with me for more vegan meringue experiments.

Vegan Mango, Raspberry and Vanilla Meringues

Ingredients

1 x 400g tin chickpeas in unsalted water, drained and the liquids reserved
140g icing sugar
1 tsp cream of tartar
1 vanilla pod, split lengthways and seeds scraped

For the raspberry stripe:
Wilton gel food colouring in rose
2 drops vegan raspberry extract

For the mango stripe:
Wilton gel food colouring in lemon yellow
2 drops vegan mango extract

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 100C. Line three large baking trays with greaseproof paper.

2. Drain the chickpeas and reserve the water. Put the chickpeas in a container and use it to make Channa Masala or Hummus later.

3. Pour the chickpea water into the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with the balloon whisk attachment. Make sure your bowl is really clean and grease free. Any oil will cause your meringue to deflate.

4. Whisk on a high speed for 4 minutes. Gradually add the sugar and continue to beat. During this time, add the cream of tartar and vanilla.

5. In a small bowl, add a teaspoon of the lemon yellow gel food colouring and two drops of vegan mango extract. Stir to combine. Repeat in a separate bowl for the rose colouring and raspberry extract.

6. Fit a large piping bag with a large round tipped piping nozzle. Use the back of a teaspoon to stripe the two colours lengthways all the way up inside the piping bag but not right to the top – leave at least 2 inches at the top free of any colour. Use two different spoons to keep the colours separate. I did three stripes of each colour.

7. Place the bag inside a large mug and fold down the top slightly. Fill your piping bag with half the meringue mixture and holding the nozzle straight, pipe 1 ½-inch chubby meringues, pulling away quickly when you get to the top to achieve those cute little peaks. Leave a bit of space around each meringue to ensure they don’t touch in the oven. I have a quick video for this on Instagram. I’m @korasoi.

8. Wash out your bag and repeat this process for the remaining meringue mixture.

9. Bake in the pre-heated oven for 2 ½ hours or until the meringues are totally dry to the touch and come away from the baking paper easily. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely.

10. Serve with your favourite vegan ice cream, on top of cakes, or dip the bottoms in melted vegan chocolate and crushed freeze-dried raspberries or chopped nuts. You can also serve them with fresh raspberries, mango slices and whipped coconut cream, but assemble this right before you want to eat or the meringues are likely to dissolve.

Go on, experiment with your favourite flavours and colours. I’d love to see where your imagination takes you.

Love Sanjana

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I’ve always strived to be a great cook like my grandfathers. My parents tell me their Gujarati and East African classics like Mombasa-Style Daal Kachori, Jalebi Paratha, gathia were inspiring. Their tips and tricks are recalled in the conversations of our extended family with a joy that I cannot even describe. I wish they’d have been here long enough for me to watch them at work.

Someone who had the pleasure of spending many hours in the kitchen with my Bapuji (paternal grandfather) was my wonderful aunt in Mombasa, Kenya. She’s an incredibly-talented cook with an edible garden I could only dream of. Packed with mangoes, coconuts, bananas, tree tomatoes and herbs, she’s an expert at cooking everything from Gujarati classics, to East African staples. When I visited their family home last year, I was treated to it all and my word was it dreamy.

One of the dishes she cooked up was this Mombasa Kachri Bateta – a light potato stew with sour green mangoes, topped with coconut fresh from the garden and fried cassava crisps. The coconut is a kind of dry chutney rammed with flavour from grated green mango, chilli, turmeric, salt and sugar. That’s it. I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again – the simplicity with which East African food is cooked blows my mind and my taste buds. It’s unbelievable how a few simple ingredients put together in a clever way makes everything Taste. So. Damn. Good.

Grated raw green mango is EVERYTHING to this dish. It adds a gentle, fruity sourness lemons just can’t deliver. If you can’t get raw green mango, try adding lime but I seriously would encourage you to hunt the mangoes down. Ensure they’re super hard and very green and keep the skin on when you grate it, because life’s too short.

The toppers for Kachri Bateta are endless – from fried cassava or potato crisps, to thick gathia, jinni sev, fresh coriander, sliced chillies and of course, the dry mango chutney. Gathia and jinni sev are fried chickpea flour nibbles – think Bombay Mix but better. You can buy them in most big supermarkets.

This dish is so easy and a delicious taste of Mombasa. The only difficult part is waiting for the potatoes to cook in the sour, spicy mango and tomato broth.

Mombasa Kachri Bateta
Serves 4

Ingredients

For the potato stew:
750g potatoes, peeled and cubed
2 tbsp crushed garlic
75g raw mango, grated
2 tbsp oil
3 tbsp concentrated tomato paste
2 tsp salt
½ tsp red chilli powder
1.5L water

For the coconut chutney:
100g fresh coconut, grated
100g raw green mango, grated
½ tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
¼ tsp turmeric
1 small chilli, chopped

To serve:
Cassava crisps or potato crisps
Gathia or jinni sev
Chopped coriander
Sliced chillies

Method

1. Heat the oil in a large pan. Add the garlic and tomato paste and cook for a minute or two, stirring all the time.

2. Next, add the mango, potatoes, salt, chilli powder and water. Allow to cook on a medium heat for around 30 minutes or until the potatoes are cooked and the water has reduced by half. The starch in the potatoes will thicken it perfectly.

3. To make the chutney, mix all the ingredients together. Cover and keep in the fridge. This is best served cold on top of the stew.

4. Serve the stew in bowls, topped with the coconut chutney, crisps, gathia, sev, coriander and chillies.

Love Sanjana

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There are some ingredients in Indian cooking which attract gasps and sighs whenever they’re mentioned. Take ghee for example; no, it’s not good for you – but is a tablespoon of ghee in a curry for four really much worse than a dollop of butter on a jacket potato for lunch, or pouring cream over a freshly-baked crumble for dessert?

Taboo ingredients like ghee receive bad press even in Indian households, and with good reason. Although I do have one rule: both biryani and paratha are not complete without ghee. Just don’t eat them every day.

Gettin’ jaggery with it

Jaggery (gor/unrefined cane sugar) is another one of these ingredients. Just like putting too many sugars in your tea, using jaggery in everyday cooking isn’t advisable. However when those hunger pangs hit, the deep, caramel flavour of this sugar is just.so.satisfying and an exciting treat once in a while.

If you can’t find jaggery in the shops, you can substitute it with palm sugar or dark brown sugar. However, if possible, try to bag yourself a block of jaggery – it lasts for ages when wrapped up tightly in cling film.

Have I justified my use of jaggery in this recipe by making a salad dressing out of it? I’m going to say yes, and so will you once you’ve tried this combination of flavours for yourself.

Let me describe it to you. Ribbons of slightly sweet, slightly sour mango and crunchy yellow courgette, a scattering of red onions, fresh coriander and red chillies make up the body of the salad. Next comes the warm sweet and sour jaggery-lime dressing, spiked with black kalonji seeds for a deep, peppery flavour. Toss it all together for a crisp, juicy salad with an Indian twist.

Mango and Courgette Salad with Jaggery-Lime Dressing
Serves 2 as a side

Ingredients:

1 green mango, peeled
1 large yellow courgette
½ red onion, peeled and finely chopped
2 tbsp fresh coriander, finely chopped
1 red chilli or 1/2 scotch bonnet, chopped

For the jaggery dressing:

80g jaggery, grated
Juice of 1 lime
½ tsp kalonji seeds (nigella)
Pinch sea salt

Method:

1. Using a vegetable peeler, shave ribbons from both the mango and the courgette. Add the finely chopped onion, fresh coriander and chilli. Toss together.

2. In a small saucepan, lightly toast the kalonji seeds until aromatic. Next, add the grated jaggery, lime juice and salt. Whisk with a fork until smooth and heated through. Allow to cool slightly.

3. Dress the salad just before serving.

Serve with Tandoori Paneer Kebabs and naan. Even if you’re not vegetarian, I promise this will make a unique and exciting side to other barbecued/grilled main dishes.

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Summer may not have graced the UK yet, but it has made a secret appearance in my kitchen. Yesterday I was given a huge box of Alphonso mangoes which are now filling my house with a beautifully sweet and fruity aroma. So with mangoes abundant, what was I to cook? I was scouring my favourite blogs on a mission to seek out an innovative recipe using perfectly ripe mangoes. I was thrilled when I found a South Indian recipe for Mampazha Pulissery by Namitha from Collaborative Curry. Not only did the fruity recipe sound delicious, but the pictures were so striking that I had to rush to the kitchen and feed my curiosity more or less immediately.

I admit that I’m a bit of a recipe mutineer, and I almost never follow instructions to the letter *slaps wrist*. As mouth-watering as Namitha’s recipe sounded, I had to incorporate aspects of the traditional Gujarati way of making Kadhi into the recipe. Kadhi is the Gujarati name for the almost-sacred buttermilk soup loved by every Gujarati I have ever met. It is similar to the South Indian soup Mor Kuzhambu, although the tempering process and ingredients usually differ significantly. You can find my recipe for Peas and Paneer Kadhi here. Kadhi is a versatile soup that is a great accompaniment to curries, chapattis and rice. Instead of making vegetable curries separately, I sometimes like to add a colourful array of vegetables to the Kadhi itself; the usual suspects are peas, sweetcorn, carrots, potatoes and onions. When served with rice, this can be a meal in itself. Gujaratis love plain, unadulterated Kadhi with Matar-Bhaat, which is a rice dish made by steaming rice with fresh green peas. I hope to bring you my recipe for Matar-Bhaat soon, along with a curry that pairs amazingly with Kadhi.

Kadhi is another one of those Gujarati dishes which screams to taste hot, sweet and sour, just like the recipe for Gujarati Toor Daal. Remember to use semi-sour yogurt, sugar (or jaggery- raw cane sugar) and chillies. I haven’t added any garlic to this recipe, like I usually do in traditional Kadhi because I didn’t want too many strong flavours overpowering the delicate fruitiness of the mangoes. Therefore, this recipe is suitable for those who have a strictly no-onions and no-garlic diet. I think the ginger and green chillies give the Kadhi the flavour-kick it needs without masking the taste of mango. I have added my mango pulp at the end in order to keep the mango flavour fresh and noticeable.

Ingredients

1 cup ripe mango, pureed
2 cups yogurt
1 ½ tbsp chickpea flour
5-6 cups cold water
2 medium hot green chillies, minced (or to taste)
1 tbsp ginger, minced
½ tsp turmeric
¼ cup coriander, chopped
Salt to taste
Sugar to taste (according to how sweet your mangoes are- remember that Gujarati Kadhi is supposed to be hot, sweet and sour)

To Temper

1 tbsp ghee
1 tsp cumin seeds
4-5 curry leaves (optional)
3-4 cloves
¼ tsp asafoetida

Method

1. Combine the yogurt, chickpea flour, water, chillies and ginger. Blend in a food processor or with an immersion blender. Set aside.

2. In a large pan, heat the ghee, cumin seeds, curry leaves, cloves and asafoetida. When aromatic, add the yogurt mixture and stir constantly until it comes to a gentle boil on a medium/low heat. This is to ensure that the mixture does not curdle.

3. When the mixture is gently simmering, add the turmeric, salt, mango puree and sugar. Adjust the consistency with water if you like, and simmer for a further 4-5 minutes. Taste to check for hot, sweet and sour.

4. Remove from the heat and stir in the chopped coriander.

Serve with hot basmati rice, chapattis and your favourite dry curry. In my next post I’ll share my favourite dry curry recipe with you! It pairs wonderfully with this mango Kadhi.

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