Dates Pickle

The whole final week of September, was spent in Dubai with my brother.In spite of being ardent ‘Date-haters’ the amazing choice of ‘em simply tempted us to buy some. So our boxes back to India generously allowed space for these black beauties to sit in pretty comfortably. :).

A few exotic packets(chocolate wrapped, almond and cashew stuffed) were given away to dear and near and one small pack remained on my counter which was smiling at me…unconsumed even after a month and a half! :)
As a matter of fact, many(like my inlaws, husband and children) dislike, any touch of sweetness in curries or pickles, except for certain special ones like me(my sis, brother and mom too) who would vouch unlike ;)..(Warm welcome to join our team if anyone out there …plzzz) ;)!!...(((V is just around counting the number of my team mates! ;) ))

Since I knew I would be the one finishing the whole thing, I opted to try making a lesser amount, with just less than a dozen dates.They tasted awesome and I ended up eating the pickle with steamed rice,chapathis, dosa and with almost all main stuff I prepared for the past two weeks….so I'm really not sure about the shelf life of this preserve ;)!..

So, here’s how I pickled them up..

Dates – 10 nos
Green chillies finely minced-2 (I avoided this)
Ginger – a one inch piece- julienned
Garlic - 4 cloves- julienned
White vinegar-1-2 tbsps(according to the preffered sourness)
Sugar – ½ tsp


Seasoning

Oil – ½ cup
Curry leaves – a sprig
Mustard seeds-1/2tsp

Let me put all the powders together here :)

Chilly powder-1 tbsp(I used a tbsp of roasted red chillies powdered coarsely)
Asafoetida/Kayam - 1/4 tsp
Fenugreek/Uluva-Roasted and powdered finely– 1/4 tsp
Turmeric powder- a fat pinch
Salt - As needed

• Deseed the dates and cut each into 4 pieces.

• Heat oil in a pan.Throw in green chillies, ginger, garlic bits and curry leaves.Saute for a few seconds.

• Add dates.Now be careful with flame.Keep it to minimum or just put off and add the all the powders. Ensure they are mixed up and heated well enough,rather than getting over fried/charred.

• Add vinegar(I added a little water, just enough to make the pickle a little saucy-as I love that way :)..though addition of water is strictly 'Not' recommended as in any pickles).Adjust the flame and bring the sauce to a boil.

• Add salt and sugar.Mix well.

• Store the dates pickle in a ceramic jar or glass bottle.

Because the addition of water, I refrigerated, till it got over, for the safer side.Otherwise it has a longer shelf life, in room temperature.

Dates pickle is an excellent combination with any Non vegetarian Biriyani..(Sigh!! :().. err compliments Vegetable Biriyanis well enough too :) !!..

Thank You Swapna, for making this post possible!.

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Wrapping up for the Year!..

I had been doing some justice to blogging this year in spite of the commitments I had to take up right from the start when compared to last year when I was hibernating with 'no recipes' most of the months ! :)..

The year 2009 had been eventful for me.
The best and the proudest moments belong to the evening spent with Sanjeevji.
Treasurable, cherishable for a blogger, right?? :)

Again 2009 is the year I started blogging with my new(no more new, now ;)) template, put up with the help of my sister, the year I decided to commercialise my space with Food Buzz , hoping that would push me back to consistent blogging and the year I started hosting the pictures using Flickr with a Pro account shared again with my :-) !.. last but not the least, the 100th post which got in this space(at last :)) by the middle of the year..

Honestly, until a few minutes back I never thought of posting a re-cap, while I was doing a lazy "look back" and was totally surprised to see the feed back for all the 30 recipes posted for the year!!.I was glad to learn that at least half of them were well approved and were tried and appreciated by readers and blogger buddies.

Goes to Srivalli for the event of Best of 2009!.Thank you Valli, for urging me for the 'look back'..:)



And now to brag about the Toppers ;)..



Chocolate Cake!


Little did I realise that this would top the hit list when I blogged the all time favourite of my siblings and mine.Probably the only Non-Indian recipe which was appreciated so far from this space ;)




Wheat Flour Dosas- Again an unexpected hit, which I counted in as a simple- humble- homely recipe.Many of them tried and claimed that this has become a part of their breakfast menu.A few of my buddies went a step ahead and shared the pictures of the dosa with much appreciations :)..Girls, you always make me feel so proud! :)



Godhumai Appam- A lucky ' Go Wheat' year for Spicy Chilly, I guess ;), is the hit number 3! :).Easy to make snack with much available ingredients should be the reason of approval of this one..




Dates Pickle- Something which I made for myself and never thought of blogging..:)..many of them tried and got back to me with good feed back. Glad to note that, guys! :)



Olan- the mildly spiced Ash gourd stew from God's own country..




and Vattayappam or the Rice Bread for their Regional Authenticity , I believe..




Peas Biriyani..




Khaman Dhokla- A challenging recipe I enjoyed making :). I can see Valli chasing me with a stick as this was the only challenge for the ICC which I took up and eventually got under the 'hit list' ;) ..Ouch!! :D





The best recipe tried from a fellow blogger of the year is undoubtedly the classic Praline Vanilla Sponge Gateau adapted verbatim from the cute space owned by Ria, who is already in her wedding blues!..All the best, sweetie :).
I make this often ever since as everyone who do the same!.

I had not been much into blog hopping, this year but I did come across fabulous blogs and I regret for not book marking promptly. All I can recall are two, which I had fallen in love with the very first time visit..Ria and Ree :)


I know I had not been contributing for events too, which I am trying to gear up more with the approaching months.Varied recipes, more of baking, better pictures are taken into consideration as well..:)..that's all for the resolution part I can think of now :)!

To sum up, I did have a contented and pleasurable year of blogging but am sure, still I have Miles and Miles to go..

I Sincerely Thank all my readers, followers and blogger buddies from the bottom of my heart for supporting me as always and I wish and hope this will continue for ever...

Wishing you all a Fabulous Year ahead, filled with Peace, Joy and Prosperity!.

Cheers,
Bharathy :)

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