Bhakshanam

Sadya – festive food

Eenthapazham – Date fruit – Khajoor

Achar – pickle

What is the fond memory of beetroot that is common to every woman during their childhood?   -  a dash of Magenta on the lips when mommas used to chop beetroot for some dish.  I see these days, two year olds also licking on mom’s lipstick.  Personally, i never liked the taste of beetroot, but, I always liked cutting, with all that bright purple color smearing the hand.

Till i attended my sister in law’s wedding at our house in kannur, all i knew with beetroot is some dry fry – palya and some soup though never tried. In wedding lunch,  I could barely make out this licking sensation sitting in the corner of plantain leaf, with all those 12 – 14 variety of dishes that usually covers up the leaf leaving behind no gaps in between them, except the combined taste that goes as tradition in any wedding sadya in kerala. To a meager eater the set up on the leaf looks belly full even before starting the meal.  But this achar once t(a)ested has to be hint of every bite you take from that leaf till you complete the sadya.

The preparation of pickles happens almost a week before the sadya and stored to get ‘that’ taste that goes along with every bite. Of course any taste changes if prepared in large quantity.  Here goes the smaller version of Eenthapazham- beetroot achar.

What do you need

Date fruit – 250 gms de-seeded and chopped lengthwise

Beetroot – 1 cup grated long (~ 200 gms)

Ginger – 1tbsp grated

Garlic – one small bulb – slit into halves

Green chilies – 4 long ones – 1tsp – chopped

Curry leaves – 1 big string

Vinegar – 150 ml

Pickle masala powder – 3 tbsp ( I prefer Eastern pickle powder)

Salt – adjust to the taste

Sugar – 2tsp

Method:

Mix all the Ingredients mentioned above nicely, preferably with the help of a masher, so that all the ingredients blend with each other.  The main part of preparation is adjusting the taste.  The tanginess or the saltiness  can be varied by the addition of salt and vinegar depending on the taste that is liked.

This can be stored for a month. Color of the pickle changes as it gets older but the taste almost remains the same.  Make sure to store it in a clean and dry bottle.

while chopping Date fruit, smear the knife with little bit of oil so that it does not get sticky.