Boil potatoes and peas separately till 90% done. (See Note 3)

Peel potatoes, cut into 4 pieces.

Lay these potatoes and peas on a cloth napkin laid on a big plate/ tray and let them dry in sunlight for the whole day. In the absence of sunlight, you can dry them under fan also.

Once dried properly, transfer these to a big vessel and add all the spices—- salt, red chilli powder, coriander powder, turmeric powder, brown mustard seeds (rai) powder and mix properly but gently.

Heat oil to a smoking point and put this oil in the above mix. Toss gently.

Fill this in a completely dried mason jar, pour vinegar and keep in sunlight. See Note 8

Shake the jar every day till done. Gets ready in about 8-10 days.

It is done when on tasting it, you feel the tanginess and the rawness are gone.

Notes: 1.Pickles and water are fiercest enemies…. they just don’t get along. So, ensure to dry potatoes and peas well. Also take care that your hands, jars, utensils used for this purpose are all dried up. You can even put your empty jar in microwave for a minute or so. Once the pickle is done, use a dried spoon for serving it.

2. For this purpose, use over ripened peas which are not very soft. That is why, the best time to put this pickle is after 15th Jan, as peas are not very soft and also ample sunlight is there.
3. My mom in law used to boil potatoes and peas in boiling water in a pan rather than the pressure cooker. For this, boil water, add whole potatoes, let 2-3 boils come and switch off the gas. Keep it covered for an hour or so. Then peel and dice.

4. Same with peas put shelled peas in the boiling water, give it a boil and immediately put peas in the strainer. This is to ensure that they don’t get too soft, otherwise while adding spices and oil, they tend to get mashed up. 5. Always use glass or china clay jars for pickles. Plastic is unsafe and metal is also not suggested due to chemical reaction.

6.Always fill the jar only three fourth and not up to the rim. Therefore take a bigger jar than the pickled quantity. For this recipe, take 2 kg jar.
7. Don’t forget to shake the jar daily, otherwise, it might catch fungus. Shake it gently. Best is to tilt the jar so that oil comes on the surface and then keep it back.

8. It’s better to put hot oil but you can use after cooling it also. But heating it is a must.
9. Ensure that there is sufficient oil in the jar. I use very little oil, you can increase the quantity of oil if feel so.

10. In the absence of sunlight, let the jar remain in your kitchen only but at some warm place, like near your gas stove or on top of the fridge etc.
11. Vinegar is used as a preservative, but if you are pickling small quantity then it can be avoided.