A lip-smacking sweet and spicy pickle with cherries. Here comes my cherry thokku or pickle to tingle your tastebuds. Check out how I made this cherry thokku with detailed step-wise pictures.
As I mentioned in my cherry rasam post, I always make savory recipes with fruits rather than making pies and tarts. Also, the family likes it, so I tend to make more pickles and soups and kuzhambu/stews with fruits.
Cherry pickle is not the first fruit based pickle. I have already shared apple pickle or thokku, and I have few thokku recipes on my like inji thokku / ginger pickle, gooseberry pickle/nellikai thokku, manga thokku/mango pickle, thakkali thokku/tomato pickle.
Thokku | Pickle
Before getting into the recipe, let me share what thokku means? Thokku is a kind of cooked pickle.
For the traditional lemon or mango pickle, we don’t cook the lemons or mangoes. We mix salt and red chili powder and temper them. But soaking time is involved, and it is not instant, but it has a longer shelf life.
For thokku, we mostly grate or chop the fruit and cook it along with spices. It is instant, but the shelf life comparatively short.
How to make cherry thokku?
For this cherry thokku, I used pitted cherries, cut into halves. You can chop them finely too. I have explained the pitting process in the cherry rasam post, so I don’t want to repeat it here again. Also, I used onion for this pickle, but you can skip it as well. All you have to do is slow cook the cherries along with spices until they are soft and mushy.
Now without further ado, here is the full recipe.
Ingredients:
- 3 tbsp oil, vegetable or corn
- 1 tsp mustard seeds
- ½ tsp asafoetida
- 1 cup onion, chopped (I used white onion, but you can use any variety)
- ½ tsp mustard powder
- 1 tsp fenugreek seed powder
- 2 tsp red chili powder
- ½ tsp turmeric powder
- 2 cup cherries, pitted and cut into half, approx 45 to 50
- 5 tsp kosher salt
- 1 tbsp jaggery
- 1 tbsp sesame oil
Steps:
- Chop the onion and pit the cherries and cut them into half.
- In a kadai or heavy-bottom pan, add the oil and when the oil is hot, add the mustard seeds and asafoetida.
- Let it splutter and add the chopped onion and cook until the onion is soft and translucent.
- Then add the mustard powder, red chili powder, fenugreek seed powder, and turmeric powder. Mix well.
- Now add the cherries and the salt.
- Mix thoroughly and cover and cook for three to four minutes over medium heat.
- Remove the lid. Water will ooze out, and it is normal. Add the jaggery and mash the cherries.
- Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook until the moisture is absorbed. It should semi-thick more like jam. It takes about 7 to 10 minutes. Keep stirring for every minute. Do not leave it unattended.
- After turning off the heat, add 1 tbsp of sesame oil and mix. Let it cool and store it in an air-tight container.
- Serve it with any variety rice or with plain rice and ghee.
Notes:
- If your cherries are ripe, the cooking time will be less. So keep an eye on the pickle. Do not leave it unattended for a long time.
- Adjust the salt and spices according to your preference.
- Onion and jaggery are optional.
- You can temper the pickle with sesame oil instead of corn or vegetable oil.
Cherry Thokku | Cherry Pickle
Ingredients
- 3 tbsp oil vegetable or corn
- 1 tsp mustard seeds
- ½ tsp asafoetida
- 1 cup onion chopped (I used white onion, but you can use any variety)
- ½ tsp mustard powder
- 1 tsp fenugreek seed powder
- 2 tsp red chili powder
- ½ tsp turmeric powder
- 2 cup cherries pitted and cut into half, approx 45 to 50
- 2.5 tsp kosher salt
- 1 tbsp jaggery
- 1 tbsp sesame oil
Instructions
- Chop the onion and pit the cherries and cut them into half.
- In a kadai or heavy-bottom pan, add the oil and when the oil is hot, add the mustard seeds and asafoetida.
- Let it splutter and add the chopped onion and cook until the onion is soft and translucent.
- Then add the mustard powder, red chili powder, fenugreek seed powder, and turmeric powder. Mix well.
- Now add the cherries and the salt.
- Mix thoroughly and cover and cook for three to four minutes over medium heat.
- Remove the lid. Water will ooze out, and it is normal. Add the jaggery and mash the cherries.
- Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook until the moisture is absorbed. It should semi-thick more like jam. It takes about 7 to 10 minutes. Keep stirring for every minute. Do not leave it unattended.
- After turning off the heat, add 1 tbsp of sesame oil and mix. Let it cool and store it in an air-tight container.
- Serve it with any variety rice or with plain rice and ghee.
Notes
- If your cherries are ripe, the cooking time will be less. So keep an eye on the pickle.
- Do not leave it unattended for a long time.
- Adjust the salt and spices according to your preference.
- Onion and jaggery are optional.
- You can temper the pickle with sesame oil instead of corn or vegetable oil.
Nutrition
I am not a nutritionist. The nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate only. It varies depending upon the product types or brands.
Hi
lovely mouth watering recipe…found it just in time. Planning to make this for some european friends who love indian spices as Christmas gift.
One question…can i use frozen cherries???
Thanks so much. Yes you can use frozen ones too.