Dosakaya or Nakka Dosakai (Yellow cucumber), a small, round-shaped light green to bright yellow colored vegetable, with a crisp crunchy skin and a mild sweet-tarty taste, is used to prepare traditional Andhra delicacies like dosakaya pappu , dosakaya pachadi and dosa avakai. Dosa Avakai is an old Andhra culinary tradition which is made on the same lines as the famous Andhra Avakai or Mango Pickle. The only difference being dosa avakai takes lesser time in terms of preparation, less laborious and is ready to be consumed within 24 hours of preparing the pickle unlike avakai which takes 6-7 days.
The pickled cucumber pieces which are blended with a spice mixture of red chilli pwd,mustard seeds pwd and seasame oil and made to marinate overnight in the spice mixture and salt, absorb the flavors of the spices well, retaining the crunchy texture due to the skin of the cucumber and have a mild tarty, slightly spicy-pungent flavor due to the red chillis and mustard powder. Dosa Avakai is an acquired taste and is best had with hot steamed white rice and ghee or with pappu annam (cooked tur dal mixed with hot rice and ghee ).
4 tbsps red chilli powder (use red kashmiri chillis)-you can reduce to 3 tbsps for less spice
1 1/2 tbsp salt-if required more salt can be added at a later stage
Mix chilli pwd,mustard pwd and salt.Take a wide vessel, add the above spice-mixture and the chopped dosakaya pieces.Mix the cucumber pieces well with the spice-mixture and slowly add the oil and combine with the pieces till well coated. The cucumber pieces should be well coated and wet with the spice mixture and oil but not dripping with oil, using approx 4-5 tbsps of oil. Once the cucumber pieces are well coated and wet, check the taste of the raw cucumber pickle and if salt is insufficient, add a little more salt. If you find that the salt content is more then add a few more cucumber pieces to compensate for the saltiness of the dish.
Generally the salt content in pickles is a wee bit more than normal.You can adjust according to your liking. Now put the cucumber pieces in an absolutely clean and dry wide-mouthed ceramic jar, cover with a tight lid and keep at a moisture-free dark area of your kitchen or pantry, overnight. Next day, take a dry clean laddle and mix the cucumber pickle well.
Dosa Avakai (Dosavakaya) – Andhra Yellow Cucumber Pickle Recipe
Dosakaya or Nakka Dosakai (Yellow cucumber), a small, round-shaped light green to bright yellow colored vegetable, with a crisp crunchy skin and a mild sweet-tarty taste, is used to prepare traditional Andhra delicacies like dosakaya pappu , dosakaya pachadi and dosa avakai. Dosa Avakai is an old Andhra culinary tradition which is made on the [...]
