The king of all pickles, they say. We agree. Or at least, the non-vegetarian in us agrees! Boneless chicken chunks and mince, pickled with the choicest spices.

A couple of us - Ammiji’s grandchildren - were in boarding school. When we returned home in the long winter break, it was as skinny, malnutritioned shadows of our robust Punjabi selves. Ammiji did her best to fatten us up during the vacations – paranthas laden with butter, lassi, halwas and thick, nutritious gravies were a daily treat. And then when it was time to go back to the boarding school, she sent us off with love, admonishments, instructions and a humungous jar of her classic chicken pickle. “If you don’t like what they serve in the dining room, just eat this pickle with roti or rice,” she’d tell us. We never told her that her huge jar of pickle was wiped clean in under a week – our friends loved it as much as we did! (Some people befriended us just to lay hands on that pickle, but that’s another story…)

 So, of course, we just had to do Ammiji’s Punjabi Chicken Pickle! When we asked Ammiji to give us her recipe, she feigned amnesia. And then she was affronted when we called her out on it. “I’ve NEVER shared this recipe with anyone; I didn’t even tell my sisters when they asked for it. And now you want me to tell you all my secrets?” But then we reminded her of the joy she’d be bringing to so many people, and she relented with a sniff and a gruff “Theek hai pher!”

 Ammiji’s secret was in making the pickle like you would a curry. The oil was turned into a thick gravy with the addition of ground spices and chicken mince. And we’ve followed the same process. There are boneless bite-sized chicken pieces, chicken mince and spices, all preserved in cold-pressed mustard oil. Balancing the flavours in this pickle took us a few months, but it was worth the wait! (And truth to tell, we loved sampling all the various samples during these months :D)

 This pickle acts as a side to your meals or you can take a leaf out of our book – turn it into the main meal itself! It’s also perfect road trip material. Cold, thin paranthas with Ammiji’s Punjabi Chicken Pickle….mmm, heaven!

If you’re a non-vegetarian, then this pickle is what you need in your life to make it complete. That might sound dramatic, but trust us, we speak from years of eating this pickle! ;)

Please note: There are no preservatives in this pickle.

Ingredients: Boneless chicken, Salt, Turmeric, Green Chilli, Red Chilli, Black Pepper, Cinnamom, Clove, Mustard seeds, Nigella seeds, Fenugreek seeds, Fennel, Aniseed, Pipli, Corainder, Cumin, Dried mango powder, Cold-pressed Mustard oil.

 Weight: 275 gms, Good for: 3 months, Refrigerate after opening.