South Kerala red chilli shrimp pickle

Take the shrimps with shells, clean it well by removing the dirt and remove all the water by draining well. Now add turmeric, Salt, little bit of kashmiri chilli powder and mix with a spoon.

Marinate it for 10 minutes

Keep it in low flame and boil it. you will see the water from shrimps oozing. Boil it till only a bit of water remain. Ensure it does not burn at all. This is important.

So for 1 Kg small shrimps, you will end up having only 200 gms after the boiling. They shrink during the process of boiling.

Take the coconut oil & fry the shrimps till they are slightly golden brown. Do not over do this.

Take the shrimps along with the oil. The oil will act as the preservative.Keep it aside

Take garlic, ginger and blend it to a semi paste. not fully, but semi paste

Fry this ginger,garlic paste in sesame oil till golden brown.

Switch off the flame. after 10-20 seconds add the remaining kashmiri chilli powder, Asafoetida powder, fenugreek powder into this and mix very well in the pan till they look like a paste

Add the shrimps plus the oil into this and mix. Taste occasionally and add more salt if needed.

Add vinegar to this little by little, tasting it every now and then to see if its not too sour. Vinegar concentration differs from places to place and hence the reason for not adding quantity.

Close this in a bottle after cooling and start using it after a day