Bharwa Hari Mirch ka Achar or stuffed Green Chili Pickle is for chili lovers like me! You can use Indian Green chilies or even Jalapenos for this.
Certain food ingredients come into our home for specific use and end up being used elsewhere. If you remember the case of languishing Beets, how they made way for the most talked about Eggless Beetroot Chocolate Cake in my society.
These green chilies were bought to be made as fritters with hot tea/ coffee on a rainy day. But impromptu plans changed the direction of dinner that night. After not knowing how to use up about 12 chilies before they take an ugly turn, I hit upon the idea of pickling them into hari mirch ka bharwa achar.
The idea was great but I’ve no know-how of the execution. This is the first pickle I ever made in my life. Till a few months ago I would have balked at the idea of making pickles myself. This seems such a dadi-naani and now a mummy field that I never felt I would enter it myself.
Like in most things, I called my mom to ask for the recipe. She in turn referred to her diary (a gold mine if you ask me!) and came up with my grandmother’s (Nani’s) recipe for Hari Mirch Ka Bharwa Achar promptly.
For me Pickle is associated with childhood – all cousins sitting together during summer and winter break and enjoying mathri with pickle. Wow, what memories! One of my dear cousins could eat pickles with Mathri all the time. She is still the same. :)
I was quite skeptical since this was my first time and I was doing it without the supervision of an experienced person. Also, Rain God had been extra indulgent to us during the last 1 month and had not let up for weeks together. So I was worried about the pickle ripening without proper sunlight.
But my fear was completely unfounded and the pickle turned out very nice. I allowed it to stay in whatever sunlight I got for roughly 5-6 days. V told me, this is the best dish I’ve made so far and he will be bringing in more chilies to keep me occupied. And off his back!
The pickle pairs very well with Biryani, Dal-Rice, and even Mathri.
My mom gave me proportions for 1 kg of chilies, I slightly modified it for about 12-13 chilies. I’ll give both proportions below for convenience.
Bharwan Hari Mirch ka Achar
Ingredients
for 10-12 chilies
- 10-12 green chilies
- 1½ tsp salt see notes
- ¼ tsp all spice powder garam masala
- 1 tsp dry mango powder amchoor
- 1 tbsp mustard seeds rai, coarsely grounded
- 1 tsp nigella seeds onion seeds, kalonji
- 1½ tbsp coriander powder dhania powder
- ½ tsp asafetida hing
- 1 tsp fennel seeds saunf
- 8 tbsp mustard oil
for 1 kg chilies
- 1 kg chilies
- 100 g salt see notes
- 50 g all spice powder garam masala
- 200 g dry mango powder amchoor
- 50 g mustard seeds rai, coarsely grounded
- 25 g nigella seeds kalonji
- 100 g coriander powder dhania powder
- 5 g asafetida hing
- 25 g fennel seeds saunf
- ½ litre mustard oil
Instructions
- Wash and wipe the chilies dry. Wash and completely dry any utensil to be used. There should be no water.
- Chop off the head of the chilies from one end. And make a slit lengthwise in the chili, starting from open end (where you removed the head) to the other end, such that the other end is still intact.
- Remove the seeds from the chilies and place them in a medium bowl.
- To this add all the spices except oil in the medium bowl. Now add 1 Tbsp oil to the spice mix. Mix well.
- Gently hold open the chili and using your fingers, fill in the spice mix into the chili. Press it gently and add more filling if required.
- Now place the chilies in a dry and clean storage jar. Pour the remaining oil from top. Give it few firm shakes.
- Place the jar in sunlight for 3-6 days. See notes for more details.
Notes
- Add more salt if storing for longer period as salt acts as preservative.
- You can store the pickle in refrigerator as well if you fear it getting spoiled.
- Exposure to Sun would depend on weather. If it is good sunny weather then it may be ready in 3-4 days. Since the weather here was mostly cloudy with persistent rains, it took 6 days for it ripen well.
