Friday, June 22, 2012

"Bimbul" Pickle (Bimbla Nonche)


“Bimbul” is a konkani word for this wonderful small, green coloured tangy fruit. In southern parts of India, they are found in the backyards of most homes.
Local people eat this sour fruit, raw with salt and chilly powder. We "Amchis" (konkani speaking people) generally use them in curries in place of tamarind. The other options are to make pickles and “gojjus” and “pacchadi” out of it.

I did some research on the net to find the English and Hindi equivalent names. I found out that its botanical name is Averrhoa Bilimbi and is known as “cucumber tree” or “tree sorrel” in English and “Bilimbi” in Hindi.


I got these home-grown "bimbuls from a friend of mine and the recipe from my neighbour ! It turned out so delicious, that I thought of sharing it.


 BimBul Pickle 14

Ingredients:

Bimbul
15 Nos
Oil
3 tsps
Mustard seeds
1 tsp
Methi (fenugreek) seeds
¾ tsp
Curry leaves
1 sprig
Chilly powder
1-2 tsps
Hing (asafetida) water
1 tsp
Jaggery powder/Sugar
1 tsp
Salt
As per taste


Method:

Bimbuls

  1. Wash the Bimbuls and pat them dry with a kitchen towel.
  2. Cut these Bimbuls into fairly thick (about 3/4 inch) slices and keep aside.
  3. Heat the oil in a non-stick pan. Add to it mustard seeds and methi seeds.
  4. As soon as the mustards seeds start spluttering, lower the heat and add curry leaves and chilly powder. Stir it well and immediately add the cut bimbul slices.
  5. Stir it till the bimbul leaves its water and shows slight discolourtion.
  6. Now add hing/asafetida water, salt and jaggery powder. Give it a good stir. At this point, bimbul slices would have slightly wilted. Switch off the gas.
  7. Allow it to cool and then store it in an air-tight glass bottle and refrigerate it.

Pickle being stir fried
Ingredients kept ready














 Makes: One small bowl


Note:

  • It goes well with curd rice, dal-rice and also with chapattis. It goes well with “pej” (Konkani word for hot rice-congee/kanji).
  • This pickle will last for a month when refrigerated and stored in an air-tight glass container.
  • The amount of chilly powder used is as per one’s taste. I used 11/2 tsp in this recipe.
  • Hing water is hing paste dissolved in water. You may also use Hing powder.
For more info on Bimbul, see here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Averrhoa_bilimbi

15 comments:

  1. Looks so good, is this bimbul similar to tindora, it looks like it..

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hema, Bimbul is totally different from tindora, The only similarity is their size and colour. Bimbul is very sour in taste.
      Thanks for your feedback.

      Delete
  2. yummy, tangy n superb pickle....

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  3. what is english name of bimbul? looks very good

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The English name for Bimbul is cucumber-tree or tree-sorrel. Thanks for the visit and comment.

      Delete
  4. looks so tangy and delicious..loved this pickle!now I will start searching for Bimbuls:)

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  5. Long time since I tasted a bimbul. We had a small tree at home and would pluck the fresh bimbul and bite and savour the tangy taste. No hope of making this now.

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  6. wonderful pickle dear !!!never tasted these before !!!looks so spicy n delicious !!!!!

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  7. This looks easy to make! Wow looks like your original recipe! Thanks Shobhakka!

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  8. Dear Shobha,
    I landed on your blog from Maayeka. You have a great blog and I really enjoyed going thru it. I will definitely be visiting for amchi recipes. Liked your travel pics too, filled me with nostalgia.
    By the way, I searched all over the blog for the Brush and Spade part but couldn't find it, have I missed something?
    Do visit me.
    Regards, Sangeetha Prabhu

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. A Hearty Welcome to you Sangeetha and thanks for your valuable inputs. Regarding the Brush and the Spade part, I am guilty of not having done enough; though I have put pictures on "flikr" which you can see on the right hand bar of my blog. However, I have written about Sambharbalipaan and Haldi Paan and combined each of it with a recipe too. If time permits you may check on it.
      Will surely visit your space.

      Delete
  9. Such a fabulous and super tempting pickle.

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  10. Hi Shobha, Glad you liked the pin cushion. Regarding the filling, I just tore up my hubby's old banian and stuffed it. Yeah I know it sounds funny but I like to use whatever is handy(ha ha). And no, hubby is not aware of this...LOL.
    Every time I visit this page my mouth waters for these bimbuls but fat chance of seeing them in Ahmedabad!! :(
    Love

    ReplyDelete