This is one of my favourites to eat with almost anything! Gajar Jo Athano is a spicy pickled carrot side dish. It goes really well with almost any curry and is actually quite healthy if you follow this recipe. Thank you Alnaar for teaching me this recipe!
Ingredients in Heat Me Up Carrot Pickle (Spicy Gajar Jo Athano)
- Spices
Yellow Mustard Seeds, Sea Salt
- Fresh Ingredients
Carrots, Hot Peppers, Fresh Lemon Juice, Fresh Garlic, Tomato Paste
My recipe for this carrot pickle is slightly different from how it is traditionally done. It bothers me when something I’m eating has unnecessary calories. When I eat something yummy, I want to have as much of it as possible without the guilt! My version of this recipe eliminates the oil that is traditional in gajar jo athano since I think this is one of those times where I can reduce the fat and calories without sacrificing the taste.
The first step is to peel and chop the carrots into very skinny sticks (as shown in the photo below).
The carrot sticks are then tossed with some sea salt and left to sit for a couple of hours at least. The salt will pull the water out of the carrots and it will pool at the bottom of the bowl so that you can drain it. Draining the water out of the carrots makes them even crunchier.
Another key to this recipe is heat! I love red chillies, but you can use any peppers that you have available. I used both green and red chilli peppers to make it extra pretty (and spicy)!
Tips when making Heat Me Up Carrot Pickle (Spicy Gajar Jo Athano)
Like I said above, my recipe is different from the traditional recipe for Gajar Jo Athano since I do not add oil. The traditional recipe requires that you sauté some fresh crushed garlic and tomato paste in oil before adding it to the carrots. Instead, I just mix the tomato paste, garlic, and lemon juice together and then toss it into the carrots. It adds a freshness to the carrot pickle that you really don’t get the traditional way. You can always saute the garlic in a dab of oil if you prefer cooked garlic over raw. As a bonus, you save yourself a ton of calories and fat… which means you can eat more of it!!
Its important to note that the oil is a preservative, so if you plan to keep this in the fridge for a month or so you should first sauté the garlic and tomato paste in oil for a minute or two. However, in our house we love this so much that I don’t have to worry about it lasting long enough to go bad. The picture below shows it eaten as a side dish to our Warm & Savoury Ground Beef Curry (Chundo Jo Saak) and roti. I promise to have a gluten free version of roti posted very soon!
ENJOY!
I hope you enjoy this recipe and I would love to hear from you in the comments below. Please follow me on Instagram @Turmeric_Me_Crazy and subscribe to keep up to date with my latest recipe additions.
Thank you every so kindly for your readership and support!
INGREDIENTS
- 3 Carrots
- 1 tsp Sea Salt
- 1 tsp Yellow Mustard Seeds
- 2-3 Hot Peppers Chopped
- 1 tbsp Tomato Paste
- 2 tbsp Lemon Juice Fresh
- 1 tsp Garlic Crushed
INSTRUCTIONS
- Chop up the carrots into very skinny sticks and place in large bowl. Toss with sea salt and let sit for 2-4 hours.
- Drain out the water from the bottom of the bowl.
- Roll a rolling pin over the mustard seeds to break them up and add to the carrots
- Chop up the hot pepper and add to the carrots and mustard seeds.
- Mix together the lemon juice, tomato paste, and garlic. Toss into the above carrot mixture.
- Let sit for at least an hour for the flavours to mix. Serve with any Indian meal as a side.
