Garlic Thokku

Garlic Thokku (pickle) is the perfect condiment for many dishes like rava upma, dal kichidi, roti and curd rice. A thokku is a condiment, which is basically a pickle consisting of methods like preparing the fenugreek powder, sauteing the ingredients using gingely oil. It also follows the addition of good amount of red chilly powder, asafoetida powder and a small piece of jaggery.

Today we are going to see thokku using garlic cloves. It's very simple and healthy. The only hard part of this dish, is peeling the garlic cloves. To keep your work simple, peel the garlic cloves or you can finish it when you watch a movie on the TV. After peeling the garlic cloves, it's just a 15 minutes work and you can enjoy a healthy homemade pickle for 2 to 3 months without any added preservatives. It's always better to prepare homemade pickle with your seasonal ingredients like mangoes, garlics, tomatoes, etc..Small softneck garlics are best suited for pickles. Gingely oil, red chilly powder, fenugreek powder are essential for doing pickle or thokku. Tamarind extract acts as a natural preservative for pickles. For homemade pickles I recommend to add homemade chilly powder. The reason for this is the homemade chilly powder has medium spice content when compared to store bought chilly powder and also it adds thickness for the pickles. However, preparing homemade chilly powder does not possible for many people and I recommend to use good quality fresh red chilly powder for pickles.

Several methods are there to prepare pickles. In this recipe, I have cooked the garlic cloves in an idly pot for 5 minutes and then sauted with the oil. I prefer this method, to have soft garlic cloves in the thokku. If you want chunky garlic cloves, you can omit the steam cooking the garlics. We will discuss the remaining details with step by step instructions.

Thokku recipes

Garlic Thokku Recipe

Garlic thokku (pickle) is the perfect condiment for many dishes like rava upma, dal kichidi, roti and curd rice.

Prep time : 20 minutes
Cook time : 15 minutes
Yields : 250grams
Category : condiment
Author : Muthulakshmi Madhavakrishnan

Ingredients

2 cups garlic cloves
1 tbsp tamarind (loosely packed)
2 to 3 tsp red chilly powder
1tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp asafoetida powder
small piece jaggery
1/2 tsp urid dal
1/2 tsp mustard
1 tsp fenugreek
1/4 cup gingely oil
salt to taste

Cooking Directions

Separate garlic cloves from the bulb and using a knife carefully to cut the top and remove the skins completely. Soak the tamarind with 1/2 cup of hot water and extract a thick pulp.
Heat a pan and dry roast the fenugreek. Roast the fenugreek till it turns to golden brown. Carefully roast the fenugreek because if it turns black you pickle will taste bitter. If they are roasted perfectly, the aroma in the pickle was so amazing. You can feel the aroma when you taste it.
Grease the idly plates with a drop of gingely oil and place the garlic cloves. Cook the garlic cloves on medium heat for 5 to 7 minutes. Do not overcook the garlic cloves.
When they are cooked, transfer them immediately to a plate and allow them to cool completely.
In the meantime, powder the roasted fenugreek. If you are using compounded asafoetida, fry them with a tsp of oil and powder along with the fenugreek.
Take a heavy bottomed kadai and heat the gingely oil for about 3 minutes. Add the mustard and urid dal. Allow them to crackle well.
Next, add the cooked garlic cloves and saute them well for a few minutes. Add the required salt and mix them well.
Add the red chilly powder and turmeric powder. Saute it for a second and gently pour in the tamarind extract. Mix them well.
Reduce the heat to low and simmer for about 10 minutes stirring often. If you are using homemade chilly the thokku will thicken quickly, so do not overcook it. About 8 to 10 minutes should be sufficient for this thokku.
Add the jaggery and asafoetida powder. Simmer for an additional 5 minutes.
Finally, add the fenugreek powder and mix them well with the thokku. Turn off the heat. Allow them to cool down and transfer it to a clean glass bottle.

Garlic Thokku with step by step pictures

Soak the tamarind with 1/2 cup of hot water and extract a thick pulp. Seperate garlic cloves from the bulb and using a knife carefully cut the top and remove the skins completely.

Heat a pan and dry roast the fenugreek. Roast the fenugreek till it turns to golden brown. Carefully roast the fenugreek because if it turns black you pickle will taste bitter.

Grease the idly plates with a drop of gingely oil and place the garlic cloves.

Cook the garlic cloves on medium heat for 5 to 7 minutes. Do not overcook the garlic cloves.

Take a heavy bottomed kadai and heat the gingely oil for about 3 minutes. Add the mustard and urid dal. Allow them to crackle well. Next, add the cooked garlic cloves and saute them well for a few minutes. Add the required salt and mix them well.

Add the red chilly powder and turmeric powder. Saute it for a second and gently pour in the tamarind extract. Mix them well.

Reduce the heat to low and simmer for about 10 minutes stirring often. If you are using homemade chilly powder the thokku will thicken quickly, so do not overcook it. About 8 to 10 minutes should be sufficient for this thokku.

Add the jaggery and simmer for an additional 5 minutes.

Finally, add the fenugreek powder and asafoetida mix them well with the thokku. Turn off the heat.

Allow them to cool down and transfer it to a clean glass bottle.

Notes
If you substitute any of the ingredients I mentioned above, your results will be different. For any pickle or thokku dishes, if you want the best results, use the fresh and best quality ingredients.
We must avoid cooking acidic foods in iron kadai because it produces a metallic flavour to the thokku. So do not prepare thokku or pickle in an iron pan or kadai as I felt the metallic flavours while tasting the thokku.

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