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SWEET MIXED VEGETABLE PICKLE RECIPE

Ingredients:
2 1/2 kgs Cauliflower (Phool gobi), Carrots (Gajar) and Turnips (Shalgam) (after peeling)
200 grams Sugar (Cheeni)
100 grams Salt (Namak)
30 grams ground spices
20 grams Red chili pepper (Lal Mirchi)
60 grams mustard powder
30 grams Ginger (Adrak)
15 grams Garlic (Lasun)
1 teaspoon glacial acetic acid (6 grams)
1/2 litre Mustard Oil (Sarson Ka Tel)

How to make sweet mixed vegetable pickle:
Wash, peel and cut the vegetables (carrots into long slices, cauliflower into medium pieces, round medium slices of turnip).
Blanch the vegetables in hot water for 10 to 15 minutes: then drain.
Grind ginger and garlic to a fine paste and fry in 1 cup of hot oil till golden brown.
Remove from the fire, add all the spices and mix well.
Prepare the sugar syrup of (in half or less than that amount of water than the sugar) one to two-thread consistency.
Mix glacial acetic acid and syrup into fried garlic and ginger mixed with spices.
Cook for 5 minutes.
Add all the vegetables, cook till it leaves its oil.
Cool, put in a jar and keep it for 10 days before using.
This pickle can be kept for up to one year.

Kashmiri Pulao, South Indian Style

Ingredients:
1 cup - basmathi rice, uncooked
1 cup - onion, chopped
1 cup - pineapple pieces, chopped
a handful - peas
salt
1 tbsp - oil
2 tbsp - ghee
To fry in a drop of oil or ghee and grind:
4 - cloves
1 tsp - jeera
1 tsp - channa dhal
1 tsp - dhaniya(coriander seeds)
3 - red chillis

To fry in 1/2 tsp of oil and set aside:
2 tsp - chopped almonds
1 tsp - cashews
2 tbsp or as you wish - raisins(i used dark colored ones)
1 - star anise
1 - cinnamon

Method
Soak basmathi rice in water for 1/2 hour and cook till done and set aside.
In a drop of oil, fry ingredients mentioned under number 1 and grind to a fine powder.
Again, fry the ingredients mentioned under number 2 and set aside.
In remaining oil and ghee, fry chopped onions till golden brown.
Add frozen peas and salt and cook for another 2 minutes.
Mix everything together(onions-peas mixture, ground powder, fried nuts and raisins) with rice adding some salt.
Finally add pineapple pieces and serve hot.
Variation: If you don't want to use South Indian spice powder mentioned under number 1, you may omit it. Instead fry green chilli and ginger garlic paste in oil/ghee along with onions - peas mixture and cook rice and saffron together. Rest of the procedure is the same.