Peach Relish

Two day back, I happened to cut a peach that was under ripe. It was pretty tart and there was no way we could have eaten it by itself. I was thinking of ways to use it up and decided to make a peach relish similar to Methamba.

Methamba is a type of relish that was often made at my house during mango season. It is a relish made of raw mangoes and fenugreek seeds. The word Methamba is a combination of two words - methi (fenugreek seeds), and aamba (mango). It's a sweet and sour concoction mostly served as a condiment with rice, chapatis and the like. I followed mom's recipe of methamba and used peach instead of raw mango.

Peach Relish

To make Peach Relish you would need -

1 cup peaches (medium diced - make sure the peaches are unripe)
1.5 tsp oil
1/4 tsp mustard seeds
1/4 tsp fenugreek seeds
1/2 tsp asafetida powder
A pinch of turmeric
3-4 dried red chillies (broken into pieces)
1 tbsp jaggery
Salt to taste
Water as needed

1. In a saucepan, heat oil and add mustard seeds. As soon as mustard seeds stop popping, add asafetida, fenugreek seeds, turmeric and red chillies (I accidentally added mustard seeds twice...oops! and that's why you see so much mustard seeds in the pic above).

2. Saute red chillies for a while, and then add diced peaches and water. Add just enough water in order for the peaches to remain submerged as they cook. Cover and let cook for 5 minutes or until peaches are tender.

3. Add salt and jaggery, and cook until the concoction cooks down to a medium consistency.

4. Turn the heat off and let relish cool down completely. Store in an airtight container and refrigerate.

The relish can last for about a week when stored in fridge.