Small Onion Pickle / Vengaya Thokku

There are various types of pickle, this small onion pickle has a special space in our dining. These can be preserved for long time.  Kids too like its blended tastes of sweet, tangy and little spicy which also increases the appetite.

Ingredients:

Shallots / Small onions – 1kg

Tamarind – 1/4 kg

Jaggery – 150gm

Red Chili – 75gm

Salt as needed

For Tempering:

Mustard seeds – 2 tsp

Curry leaves few

Red Chili – 1no

Gingelly Oil / Cooking Oil – 150ml

Asafoetida / Hing – 2 tsp

Method:

• Peel and dice shallots into small pieces. Clean and remove seeds from tamarind.
• Now in a mixer add chopped shallots, tamarind, red chilli in batches and grind roughly.

• Transfer this roughly grinded mixture to the grinder, again grind until smooth without using water, approximately it takes 30 minutes.

• In a kadai add half (i.e., 75 ml) of the cooking oil and crackle mustard seed and then drop the curry leaves, hing and red chili.
• Next add grounded onion mixture and cook under medium flame. Keep stirring continuously for every 5 minutes, by adding rest of the oil in batches until it turns transparent. (It takes about 30 to 40 minutes)

• When the oil starts oozing from pickle and tight, switch off the flame and let it cool down.

 Transfer to the clean jar or airtight container. Serve with murukku or curd rice.

Tips:

• Add the ingredients in the grinder / blender in parts, because if you add in one goes it easily  get stuck. So I have mentioned 2 steps to follow, first roughly grinded in mixer then I transfer to the grinder.
• You can preserve this pickle about 6 months in a refrigerator.
• It is a multipurpose pickle which goes well with curd rice, roti, murukku, upma etc..,