Carrot And Dry Fruits Pickle (Gajar, Sookha Meva Nu Achar)
Grrrrrgh!
Course : Curry
From: HungryMonster.com
Serves: 1
 

Ingredients:

  Amount  Measure       Ingredient -- Preparation Method
--------  ------------  --------------------------------
   1      kilogram      carrots grated
 500      milliliters   apple cider vinegar -- (or white wine
                        -- vinegar)
  50      grams         chile powder -- (medium heat) (or to
                        -- taste)
 500      grams         jaggery block -- (light coloured)
 100      grams         dried apricots -- (seedless)
 150      grams         kharak -- (if kharak is not
                        -- available increase
                        -- dates to 250 grams)
   3      bulbs         garlic peeled and slit lengthwise
                        -- in 4 quarters
 150      grams         seedless dates -- (slit in two)
 100      grams         black currents -- (seedless)
 100      grams         resins -- (seedless)
   2      tablespoons   crushed mustard seed -- (not completely
                        -- powdered)
 200      grams         dried figs -- (cut in two after
                        -- removing stems)
   2      teaspoons     turmeric
   2      teaspoons     salt
 

Preparation:

Soak the kharak for 4 hours in the 500 ml vinegar and drain. Slit kharak lengthwise in two and remove seeds. Squeeze out some of the juice from the shredded carrots- but not all. (Retain the juice in a jug). In the drained vinegar, add the shredded carrots, chile powder, and salt. Boil the mixture in a large sauce pan on medium heat until half cooked, stirring frequently. (about half hour). Add some more vinegar, and/or retained carrot juice(only if mixture appears dry). Add jaggery (after breaking/crumbling the block in small pieces). Add kharak, mustard, turmeric and garlic to the carrot mixture. Cook on medium heat for about 10 minutes, stirring frequently Add apricots and dates and cook until the mixture is thick and most of the liquid is absorbed. Stir frequently ( Note that the pickle will soak up some of the liquid while it is cooling) Add figs currents and resins. Stir and cook further for 5 minutes. Remove from heat. Cool mixture and bottle in sterilized jars. Note. If the pickle appears somewhat dry after cooling, add some Golden Syrup mixed with some sweet sherry. Golden Syrup could be made somewhat more liquidy for easier mixing with the pickle by first heating it a little for half a minute or so in microwave or on stove. NOTES. Does not need refrigeration. And keeps for several months. Dried apricots with seeds (Jardaloo) are often not easily available outside of the Indo-Pakistan subcontinent. I have instead used dried, seeded, orange coloured apricots which are easily available in supermarkets. Source: Burjin