Skip to main content

Raj Pickles Too !!!


IT's not like I am crazy about pickles but I do love my dad's homemade ones. I'm so convinced by the product that I believe in it enough to want to market it and learn the making process to carry on with the heritage. You see, being referred to as the 'pickles girl' isn't cute but I love the recipes passed down to my father, Mr. Jayaraj (known as Raj, pic above)from his aunt, who got it from his grandmother. So it's been in the family for quite a while now. Only thing is that dad never introduced it to us because my brother and I were not fans of traditional Indian pickles. Personally I feel that most Indian pickles are either too sour OR salty, or just very spicy AND oily. How is that supposed to enhance food flavours I don't know. Pointless. So I avoided Indian pickles altogether till dad decided to make a batch one day. My dad is a great cook (mom is lucky because he does most of the cooking) but I didn't know then that Raj pickles too. Ever since, it's been unstoppable for me. I like my pickle in a perfectly harmonious blend of all flavours - sweet, sour and spicy. A little bit of pickle should be able to invoke your tastebuds in a way that you want more of it, and that's exactly what dad's homemade pickles does for me! 

One of his speciality and my most favourite pickle is the brinjal and green chili type. It is also the first pickle I tasted and ate all the time. Made using fresh brinjals and green chillies (pics below) together with herbs and spices, those who have discovered it (thanks to me), can't get enough of it.
 








Of course, with brinjals as vegetable, it's either you like it or not, but when pickled, I find that non-brinjal lovers take a liking to it too. I have many return customers who were non-believers initially. I guess it must be the pickle factor and it also helps that the vegetable isn't as squashy as one would think it'll be. What's also good about the pickle is it's easily likeable among first time eaters. There are many Chinese and Malay friends who love this stuff too. Acar, they call it, while the Indian friends know it as 'Urugai'. That's pickles in Tamil.

The bottled products
Right now, I am still my dad's earnest kitchen helper. Whenever I am back at my hometown, I help him cut fresh ingredients into desired sizes, watch him do his stuff at the wok, and take in all the little tips he gives while at it. I also drive to a few markets to source for the best ingredients for our pickles. It's actually quite a lot of work but I enjoy doing it and hopefully one day, I'll be the little chef alongside my dad, doing the cooking myself :)


Comments

  1. looks and sounds delicious

    ReplyDelete
  2. Have you tasted Branston pickle? It's supposed to be sweet rather than hot.

    ReplyDelete
  3. nursemyra: i think so too :)

    bananas : i've heard of it but nvr tried, but sounds good :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. did you bring any back to kl? would love to try them!

    ReplyDelete
  5. of course ! marketing manager here.
    i'll bring you some k :)it's vegetarian friendly

    ReplyDelete
  6. I love some pickles, just today i had chilli pepper chips. Remember we call chips, what you call frys. Did you ever see those youtube challenges in which idiots try to eat those toxic, kill you in a sniff, peppers from some deep jungle?. Lol, anyway, i hope you dont mke those. It must be nice to be close to your dad and do all these traditions, there could be a big business in it.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

An Award on Oscar Day

THANKS for the Kreativ Blogger award on Oscar Day,  Queen Bee . It is sweet to pin a badge like this here and since this is my first award, it's all the more sweet.  With this, I'm required to list out ten random things about myself and later tag six other favourite bloggers.  Let's start with the 10 Random Things :)  1) Diamonds are not for me.  I admire jewelry (fine or otherwise) but I'm not in love with them enough to want to own them. My favourite jewelry is a pair of white pearl stud earrings.  2) I drink water for breakfast, lunch, tea and dinner. It's just a good habit I can't break. I usually write with a bottle of water next to me instead of a mug of coffee.  3) I love balms . Nothing calms me better than a nice balm. It reminds me of my grandma, clears my mind, and puts me to sleep.  4) I keep a hammer in my bedroom.  It came in handy TWICE when the lock jammed. I broke it and set me free. My mother was petrified with the knowledge that m

Me, Myself and I

LOVELY Miss  Azra  has tagged me. It's fun once in a while to do this sort of thing and questions here seem doable too. I'll try to keep my answers short and sweet, resisting the urge to ramble since it's all about Me, Myself and I ! 1. What is your favourite saying, or motto ?  It doesn't matter. Don't worry about it.  Basically, I just try to see the positives in most shitty situations. Realistically.   2. What is your dream job ?  It ranges from being a tour guide, a travel writer and a secret agent to a medical rep, a rose picker for Chanel gardens in France and an English teacher to those under 12. I'm allergic to teenagers. 3. What part of the world do you have little interest in travelling to ? And which part of the world is next on your list ?  I have little interest in Jakarta and Bangladesh, or any place where the temperature is -45 Deg Celcius for most of the year.  My dream destination is Africa. Next on list is either Africa or New York

From Doha, With Love : Minimal Changes

SO I've been to Doha a few times already by now. Minimal or no changes at all on this flat land of sand and sandstorms, except that the population seemed to have increased by god-knows-how-many-folds judging from the volume of people seen at the popular Souk Waqif in the city centre two days ago. It's like people have multiplied like the sea sands. The last few times I was there, I remember liking the place for what it was - a perfect venue to people-watch, smoke Shisha and be a tourist. Now I don't know if that's a good thing... ...if there aren't enough social venues for this astounding volume! Perhaps, I'm a little spoiled coming from a city where food is available 24 hours a day, with freedom of alcohol consumption at random bistros and cafes and to do just about everything I wished for in a cultural setting that doesn't stare at me like I'm some kind of a three-eyed monster. I suppose people here are just a curious bunch given the potpourri of