Karonde ka Achaar |Karonda Pickle | Karonda ki sabzi

This Karonde ka achaar (Pickle) or Karonda ki sabzi recipe is the best way to include them in your meal plan because of its health benefits.

New to Karonda/ kalakkai / Natal Plum? Let’s dive in to see what the fruit actually is.

Karonda (Natal plum) as known as kalakkai in Tamil is an Age-old Ingredient that has forgotten its path in recent times.

When we first moved to the North of India in Rajasthan, I was clueless about the vegetables, as the Ingredients we get in our place were more seasonal. Little did I know, I’m going to learn a handful of fresh unique recipes.

Moogre ki sabji, Kadhi chawal, Palak in green gram dal are some names, that I learnt from my neighbour.

Karonda’s are a variety of Carissa (carissa carandas) and are often confused with cranberry. They are also known as Indian cranberry. This green mini cherry-like fruit is sour, before when it is raw, and gets slightly sweeter as it starts changing colour and becomes ripe. Yet, sweetness is not much commendable.

These Kalakkai’s (karonda) is rich in iron, vitamin c and are believed to reduce blood pressure. Because of their good pectin content, they are a great choice in making jams and pickles.

How to eat Karondas or Natal Plum?

In India, they are most commonly used for making pickles, jams, chutneys, and as a good side dish.

However, they are also being used for faking cherries in bakeries by soaking the riped karonda in sugar syrup.

What to eat with Karonda ki sabji |Karonda Pickle?

Karonda pickle is best when paired with Rice and chapati or Roti with dal. our personal favourite for pairing these goodies is with curd rice and rice with dal fry.

Storage Instructions for Karonda Pickle

You can store them in a refrigerator for longer use, else they could be kept outside.

if you aren’t keeping it in the refrigerator, it is better when used within a month else add some more oil to extend its life to two months.

In Refrigerator it stays well for eight to ten months. But always ensure you are using a dry spoon for each serving.

Karonda (kalakkai) Pickle Recipe | Karonda ka achar

Firstly, Wash and Dry Karonda or Kalakkai or Natal Plum, before using this recipe. Then gather all the ingredients to use.

• 

As the second step, Dry roast saunf (Fennel seeds) and fenugreek in a medium-hot pan without burning.

Let it cool down and Later, grind it to a fine powder.

In a deep bottomed pan, add oil and season it with mustard and Asafoetida (hing). Let them splutter.

Add turmeric and red chilly powder and immediately add the karonda’s to it. Let them cook for few minutes till they look juicy and puffed.

the reason we add Turmeric and red chilly to oil is for the colour, you can also add the karonda first to oil followed by spice powders. Still, the bright colours can be added by tempering them with red chilly and turmeric powders separately.

Now, add the grounded powder and saute it for few minutes till the natal plum (karonda) is well coated with the ground masala.

Add a tsp of jaggery at the end. you can skip this step if you aren’t comfortable with the sweet and sourness combination.

Transfer them to an airtight glass bottle once they are cooled down.

Tips and suggestions to make the best karonde ka achaar (pickle)

• Make sure the karonda’s are dried well before using them in the pickle recipe
• Take extra care while dry roasting saunf and fenugreek else the pickle would taste bitter.
• Add extra oil to the pickle if you are not going to store the pickle in the refrigerator.
• Raw Karondas have seeds inside. I skipped removing the seeds in this pickle recipe as they were soft. you can also remove the seeds after washing the karonda’s for use in this recipe.
• For carrandas that are red or pink, I would suggest removing the seeds. As the fruit, is in a riped stage the seeds would be harder.
• Another alteration to this jar of pickle is Karonde ka Mirchi pickle.

Karonda ka Mirchi pickle

This recipe will work best with the sour karonda’s.

• Take 1/2 cup of green chillies for the same amount of ingredients as in the recipe card.
• if you are using large chillies you can use 12-15 of them. you can also increase and decrease the chillies based on the spiciness you prefer.
• wash and dry the chillies.
• Split the chillies and remove the seeds
• Add green chillies together with karonda and saute in the spice mixture. follow similar steps as that of the previous recipe.