Champanga Pickle (Bell Fruit Pickle)

Cut champangas (Wax apple/Bell fruit) into small pieces after removing seed. Keep them aside.

Finely chop or grind ginger-garlic.

Heat oil in a pan. When the oil is hot, pop mustard and add fenugreek. Saute them. (Then reduce the flame to medium). Add ginger-garlic (finely chopped or paste) and saute. Add asafoetida followed by curry leaves. Add red chilli powder and salt. Saute.

Add champanga pieces into the pan. Mix them well and cook for a minute. :- Then increase the flame to maximum for a minute and reduce back to medium.

Add pepper powder. Close the pan with a lid. Let them cook for 2 minutes. Open the lid and mix again. Add some water for gravy in pickle. :- Increase the flame.

Close the lid and wait till the water boils well. :- Then reduce the flame to medium. Cook for 10 - 15 minutes. Open the lid every 2 minutes and mix the ingredients well.

When cooked, champanga pieces will get smaller in size. When the gravy thickens, your pickle is ready. Serve with boiled rice or roti.

Note: 1) You may slightly change the amount of oil, chilli powder and salt based on your requirement. 2)When you cook after adding water, check in between if water is all evaporated. If you see the water dried up, add more water and boil it for a while until it mixes well to become gravy. 3)Before taking out the pickle, beginners may taste them. If you feel that red chilli powder requires to be added, then move the pickle to the side of the pan with a spoon and add a little oil in the space. When the oil is hot, add chilli powder to the oil and saute it in the oil. When the chilli powder changes its color from red to dark red, mix it with the remaining ingredients in the pan. Heat them together for a while. Pickle color should be red. If not, that usually means that the amount of chilli powder added was not sufficient. 4)Pluck them when the champangas are pink in color. (ie,after white; before reaching red color). 5)You may add finely chopped green chillies and saute them before adding ginger garlic paste. You may also add some vinegar, after the water is boiled. But it will taste fine without these. I wouldn't recommend green chillies, since they reduce the amount of chilli powder we can add which will inturn reduce the color from red to orange. I don't like adding artificial color.