Kallummakkai Achar (Mom's special)/ Pickled Mussel's

Everytime when I come back after a  vacation from home, I will be carrying a  lot of goodies that my amma has packed for me .I never thought how much work is going onto all of this preperation until this time when I got to see her doing all the preps.I always bring all the spice powder which would last for a year and this year too I packed up a whole lot of  chilly powder,corainder powder,turmeric powder,Puttu podi(rice flour) ,pickles etc .But now that I know how much work is behind it ,they are precious to me.

Kallummakai Achar is one thing that I would die for  and always bring back and this time since  amma was busy with few other things I was in charge of cleaning it.Oh God,I thought I never will ask amma to make this again for me.We bought 100 of them and I was standing in the kitchen for nearly 2 hours cleaning it and removing the poo from inside..phew! With just the cleaning done I handed over it to  amma and she did another 1 hour work to make this one jar of pickle. Eventhough that day I thought I am not going to make it again,every time I take a spoon full of it, it makes all our effort so worthwhile,what can I say more about it...

I have been relishing  this pickle for almost 2 months now, only taking it when I crave for it badly, just to save it for later. But now the pickle jar is almost empty and I thought I should blog about it before finish it off. All that I have got now is in the pic,weather was too gloomy today but I m sure if I wait for a sunny day to click it then there wont be any pickle in the jar :)

Here is my amma's recipe

Ingredients

Mussels/Kallummakkai - 100 nos
Dates - 10 no
Ginger - finely chopped ( 1 1/2 tbs)
Garlic - chopped ( 3 tbs)
Green chillies - 3-4
Curry leaves - few
Vinegar- as required
Pickle Powder - 1-2 tsp
Redchilly powder - 1 1/2 tbs
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Salt
Sugar - 1 tsp
Sesame oil

Method

1. Clean the mussels outer shell and steam them in a saucepan for few minutes until all the shells have opened.

2.Remove the mussels from the shell and discard  the shell.

3.Take out the poo and vein  from each mussel and clean.(quite tedious)

4.Marinte the mussels with redchilly,turmeric and salt and shallow fry them in sesame oil.

5.In another  pan add some sesame oil and saute ginger,garlic ,curry leaves and green chillies for 1-2 minutes.switch off the flame.

6.In a bowl mix mussels and  the sauted ingredients.

7.Make a puree of dates with little vinegar and add this too.

8.Finally add pickle powder,sugar,salt and vinegar if required.

Mussels fry/ Kallummakayi porichathu

Being from Malabar in Kerala, Mussels is something that I grew up eating a lot,and like me most of the people in Malabar will go crazy for this shell fish.Eventhough we get Mussels here in U.K it doesnt taste good like the Mussels that we get back home and the size of it is too small compared to the one that we get back home.Like prawns,we get cooked and ready to use Mussels in supermarkets here,but it doesnt have much flavour ,so once in a while when we crave for this very badly we pick up live mussels from Fish mongers.
This weekend I picked up a whole bunch of it . Me and S had fun cleaning and cooking it.We prepared a whole lot of Arikadukka /Stuffed mussels which is a malabar speciality, and the rest I used for this fry.

Ingredients

Mussels - 50 nos
Redchilly powder - 1 1/2 tbs
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Salt

Preparation

1.Clean the mussel's shells and remove any dirt outside the shell.
2. In a vessel add a little water and add the mussels and cook it covered for 5 minutes or until shells are open.
3.Remove the shell and take the flesh.
4.Marinate it with masalas and shallow fry it.

Ari kadukka /Stuffed Mussels

Ingredients

For stuffing

Fresh Mussels - 15 no

Rice flour - 1 1/4 cup

Cumin seeds - 1 tsp

Grated coconut - 1/4 cup

Shallots - 8 -10

Salt

For frying

Redchilly powder - 1 1/ 2 tbs

Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp

Salt

Preparation

Clean the mussels under running water.Gently slide the knife through the slits and open the shell by running the knife around. This is quite tricky and should be careful .It is easier to open the shell if you slide the knife at straight portion of the the slit.

In a mixie pulse grated coconut, shallots and cumin seeds to a coarse paste. Add this to the riceflour and make a soft dough by adding salted warm water.Stuff the mussels with the dough and steam it for 15 -20 minues.Allow it cool down.Once it is cooled remove the shell and marinate the arikadukka with redchiily powder,turmeric powder and little salt( dont add too much salt as the dough contains salt).Keep it aside for 10 - 15 minutes.In a frying pan take some oil and shallow fry the ari kadukka by flipping the sides over.