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Here is a little hot and sweet preserve for you.  The zesty ginger with hot paprika and sweet jaggery combine together to make this potent preserve.  It heightens the experience of a rice and lentil meal.  Served in all sadya (feast)  I hope you will enjoy this recipe.

Ingredients:

Ginger - thinly chopped - 1 cup

Coconut oil - 1/4 cup (could use less if you can deep fry the ginger in small quantities)

Curry leaves - 1 sprig

Green chillies - 6 nos

Brown sugar - 3 tspn packed

Salt - 1 tspn (add gradually as per taste)

Turmeric - 1/4 tspn

Asafoetida - 1/4 tspn ( optional)

Fenugreek powder - 1/4 tspn

Chili powder - 1 tspn

Tamarind - a lemon size ball (I made a ball of some tamarind and kept it in a tbspn and I think its safe to say 1 1/2 - 2 tbspn of tamarind)

Water - 1 cup and 2 tbspn

Method:
1. Soak the tamarind in 1 cup of water
2. Deep fry the sliced ginger and chili and keep aside
3. In a little water as little as 1 tbspn or as much as 2 tbspn and mix the powders.  Turmeric, chili, asafoetida, fenugreek)
4. I drained the oil out and added the soaked powder mixture in and sautéed it for a few seconds
5. With your hands mix the tamarind well making taking only the juice
6. Add this to the sautéed powder and boil for 10-15 minutes on medium fire or until it thickens
7.  Add the fried ginger, chilies and curry leaves and let the mixture simmer
8. You could crush the fried ginger with your hands or in your blender to get a coarse powder or add it as is.
9. Take off the heat, cool and save in a bottle

Contributor: Sunitha