This spicy love apple pickle is juicy, tangy, and spicy all at the same time! The perfect pickle to eat as a side dish with dal and roti when you’re missing India.
Who cares if love apples aren’t originally from India? We love them anyway, in any form. Most of us have grown up with love apple trees nearby. Me and my siblings; we used to climb the tree at our grandparents’ place and get the juicy and crisp fresh ones to eat. They’re always the best right off the tree, aren’t they?
We used to also climb the tree to get to go play on the roof, but that’s a story for another day.
Anyways, love apples make pretty amazing pickles too. There’s no East Indian version of this pickle. We love the version of the pickle that’s slightly South Indian in nature, much like the chambakka pickle, or should I say chambakka achaar? They taste great with lunch or dinner.
What are love apples?
Anyways, love apples are bell-shaped fruit that grow in clusters and have a natural shine. They taste almost like pears and have a very high water content. Love apples are also called water apples, rose apples, wax apples, wax jambu, jamruls, or chambakka.
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Here’s the recipe from our recent batch of spicy love apple pickle aka jamrul pickle.
Spicy Love Apple Pickle Recipe or Chambakka Recipe
Washing and cleaning the love apples
First off, gather your love apples from the tree. You can also pick a few of them off the floor if they’ve just fallen within the hour and haven’t been bruised. Why waste? Or you could just leave them for the birds.
Wash the love apples, chop them into halves and deseed them.
Roughly chop the love apples into 1 cm or 1.5 cm long rectangles or squares. It doesn’t really matter. They’re going to lose water and shape later on.
By the way, I just remembered that we also call them Jams. I don’t know why, I guess it’s probably short for Jamrul. Will ask the parents or aunts and uncles one of these days. If you know why though, please comment and let me know.
We wash the love apples once more with water and a bit of vinegar because sometimes there’s grime in them, or teeny worms, or the fluff that the worms leave behind. I mean, if you’re willing to take your chances you don’t need to wash them, but I prefer to wash. I almost spent half an hour inspecting each and every piece. Phobic much!
If you’re living a gluten-free diet, wash with cider vinegar or apple vinegar, or apple cider vinegar.
Frying the love apples with spices
Next heat some oil in a kadai or large pan, along with red kashmiri chillies, red chilly powder, hing or asafoetida, turmeric powder, methi or fenugreek seeds, rai or mustard seeds, and salt. Wondering why the hing? Because in addition to making you let out a dozen farts it also gives the food some zing.
By the way, I have a friend who is allergic to gluten. So in case you are too, don’t worry. This recipe is essentially gluten-free since hing and methi are naturally gluten-free, but sometimes acquire gluten while being processed in a gluten-friendly factory. Commercial producers of asafoetida or fenugreek powder use wheat to make the powders smoother. So you just need to ensure that you buy your asafoetida aka hing and methi aka fenugreek powder or seeds from GF or gluten-free producers. They use rice instead of wheat for processing. Read the labels carefully and you’re fine!
Next, add the chopped jams aka love apples and saute for 10 to 15 minutes.
After some time, taste the pickle and if it’s got a spicy zing to it. It’s just perfect. Just add in a few spoons of vinegar for preservation and turn the stove off. If you need to add in more spices, just use your own judgment. These are home recipes. There are no right or wrong amounts.
Add a handful of curry leaves on top and leave to cool before bottling into jars. The pickle can last for months if you’ve made it in bulk.
Isn’t this the most perfect spicy love apple fruit pickle?
Love Apple Pickle | Jamrul Pickle | Chambakka Achar Recipe
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Ingredients
- 1 Kilograms Love Apples
- 6 Tablespoon Red Chili Powder
- 10 Dried Kashmiri Chillies
- 1 Tablespoon Asafoetida (Hing)
- 2 Tablespoon Fenugreek seeds (Methi seeds)
- 1 teaspoon Turmeric Powder
- 8 Tablespoon Oil
- 2 teaspoon Mustard Seeds (Rai)
- 2 Tablespoon Curry Leaves
- 1 Tablespoon Salt
- 3 Tablespoon Vinegar (Apple Cider) For preservation
- 10 Tablespoon Vinegar (Apple Cider) For washing
Instructions
- Wash the love apples and dice into 1 or 1.5 cm large squares.
- Wash again with apple cider vinegar to remove grime. (Or any other gluten free vinegar.)
- Heat the oil in a large pan (kadai) and fry mustard seeds till they start to pop.
- Add the chilly powder, kashmiri chillies, asafoetida (hing), fenugreek seeds (methi), turmeric powder, salt and fry for 2 minutes.
- Add the diced love apples and saute for 10 to 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Add 2 to 3 tbsps of apple cider vinegar and mix well. (This is optional and only necessary for preserving for months at a time.)
- Add the curry leaves and turn the flame off.
- Cool the pickle before moving to jars to store.
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Notes
STUFF YOU MAY NEED
- Knife
- Chopping Board
- Stainless Steel Spoon
- Aluminium Kadai
- 700 ml or 1 litre Ceramic Barni For Pickles
- Ceramic Jar or Barni
Nutrition (Per Serving)
Disclaimer: Nutrition Information per serving is estimated by a third party software based on the ingredients used, and is for informational purposes only. It will vary from product to product, based on methods of preparation, origin and freshness of ingredients. Please consult the package labels of the ingredients you use, or chat with your dietician for specific details.
This printable recipe card is for home use only. For more recipes head over to AbbysHearth.comCooking Tips & Tricks
- Remember to wash the love apples before use as sometimes you can get a bit of dirt or tiny worms.
- Chop them in any size or shape as they loose form when cooked because they have 70% water content.
- Add Hing aka Asafoetida for that extra zing!
- If you want something less spicy, try this onion pickle!
What We’re Asked about Love Apples
How Long Can You Store Love Apple Pickle?
The jam-fruit pickle can be stored in a refrigerator for about 1-2 years in an air-tight jar.
What Are Love Apples?
Love apples are a bell-shaped fruit that is pale green or pink in colour. It is also called Java apple, water apple, rose apple, or wax apple, wax jambu or also jamrul in India and its scientific name is Syzygium samarangense.
What Is Hing?
Hing or Asafoetida is a spice that is used by many Indians to add zing to a dish, but it also works as a digestive aid.
Where Are Love Apples Found?
Nowadays love apples are grown mainly in the tropics. It is native to parts of Southeast Asia, the Malay Peninsula, and Andaman and the Nicobar Islands. It is also found in parts of India.
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I’m an East Indian foodie and travel blogger from Bombay, India. I love baking, cooking, and making wine at home. But I also love doing stuff around the house and spending time in the Word. You’ll find more info about me here!
very nice thanks so much for sharing
We made a quarter kg. Tastes amazing!