Chicken Pickle

Boneless chicken – 1lb

Chilli powder – 1 tsp

Turmeric powder – ¼ tsp

Salt – to taste

Cut chicken into small pieces. Marinate in Chilli-turmeric-salt mixture overnight (or at least a couple of hours) in the refrigerator.

In a cooking vessel, cook the chicken along with the marinade until all the water is evaporated. You may omit this part and deep fry directly.

Heat cooking oil(enough to deep fry the chicken), and deep fry the chicken until slightly crispy. Drain on paper towels.

Heat 4 tbsp gingelly oil and add:

Mustard seeds – 1 tsp

Fenugreek seeds – 1 tsp(You may add roasted fenugreek powder at the end instead of adding it now)

Garlic – 3 tbsp, ground or minced

Ginger – 4 tbsp, ground or minced

Green chillies – 8, slit

Curry leaves – a few sprigs

Stir and cook until the raw smell of garlic and ginger disappears. If you are using ground garlic-ginger, frying up to this point is important otherwise the pickle will taste like raw garlic. Then add:

Chilli powder – 3 tsp

Asafoetida – ¼ tsp

Juice of one or two lemons as per your taste

Bring it to a boil and add the fried chicken pieces. Simmer for a couple of minutes. Add salt if needed. Turn off the stove and let it cool down. Add 2 tbsp(more or less to taste) of vinegar.

Once the pickle is cold, transfer to a glass container. After a day, transfer it to the refrigerator. I am not sure about its prolonged shelf life. We finish it off within a week. :)

Dedicating to my friend who never gave me her mom's yummy chicken pickle recipe even after several requests. This is what I could come up with after many attempts. The taste is almost close, but their secret version had a lot more thick gravy and I have no idea how they made it. :(