Winter brings with it a whole array of fresh vegetables. When you visit a vegetable store, you can feel tempted towards the vibrant colours of the produce staring back at you. With so many colourful and seasonal vegetables in the winter season, you need to know which ones can be converted into tasty pickles that you must have this season in order to satisfy your taste buds in a tangy way. Punjabis and other people who belong to North India are obsessed with Gobhi, Gajar and Shalgam ka Achaar. Well, do you know the pickle is ridiculously easy to make at home? Try the recipe at home instead of buying it from the store.

Preparation time: 30 minutes

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Cooking time: 60 minutes

Quantity of the pickle: 1.5 kg approximately

Ingredients:

Cauliflower: 1 kg

Carrot: ½ kg

Turnips: ½ kg

Onion: 2 big

Garlic cloves: 200 grams

Ginger: 100 grams

Salt to taste

Red chilli powder: 2 tsp

Turmeric powder: 1 tsp

Garam masala: ¾ tsp

White vinegar: 1 cup

Jaggery: ½ cup (crumbled)

Mustard oil: 4 tbsp

Method

Peel carrots and turnips. Wash all the vegetables including cauliflower thoroughly. Cut all these vegetables into big pieces. Boil plenty of water in a big vessel. When the water starts boiling, add vegetable pieces and stir for a minute on high flame. Turn off the flame. Drain the water and keep the blanched vegetables in a strainer. Spread these blanched vegetables on a clean cotton sheet under the sun for four to five hours. Let the sun soak the moisture in the blanched vegetables. Heat mustard oil in a big wok. Add finely chopped garlic and grated ginger. Saute for three minutes on low flame. Add onion paste. Saute until golden brown. Add turmeric powder and red chilli powder. Saute for a few seconds. Add blanched and sun-dried cauliflower, carrot and turnip pieces. Add salt and mix all ingredients well. Cook open on medium-low flame stirring frequently for 30 minutes. Turn off the flame. Add garam masala and mix well. Keep aside. Take vinegar in a pan. Add crumbled jaggery into it. Heat it stirring and mixing continuously until jaggery is completely mixed. Turn off the flame. Add this mixture in the sautéed vegetables and mix well. Keep it covered overnight or for five to six hours. Store the pickle in a clean glass jar having an air-tight lid. Keep the filled jar under the sun for three days. The pickle is ready to eat. You can keep it outside the fridge if you can consume it within a week. If you want to consume it for more than that, store it in a refrigerator.

Tips to make lip-smacking Gobhi-Gajar-Shalgam achaar:

Use fresh and good-quality cauliflower, carrots and turnips.

Dry all the cut vegetables under the sun for four to five hours so that it absorbs the extra moisture of the vegetables.

Just blanch the vegetables. Do not boil them in water. The vegetables should be firm and crisp, not soft after blanching. Just put them in boiling water for a minute and take them out draining the water.

Use white vinegar so as to keep the flavour clean and also it would not discolour the pickle. You can swap it with apple cider vinegar. Do not use overpowering vinegar in this pickle.

Keep the pickle simply by adding a few spices, garlic, ginger, onion, vinegar and jaggery.

Always be sure to store this pickle in a clean glass jar with a tight lid.

Wait for at least three days for the pickling to kick in. Keep under the sun for three days.

This pickle will last for up to a month or more when kept in a refrigerator.

Although, carrot, cauliflower, and turnips are available throughout the year the real taste and benefits of the veggies can be gained when consumed in winter. Make this pickle in this season and derive all the beneficial effects of these seasonal vegetables.

Feel free to be creative by adding some spices of your taste. As long as you have some garlic, ginger, onion, vinegar, and jaggery, you are pretty much set for this basic recipe that tastes awesome.