Cucumber Achar

Ingredients:

• 4 cups cucumber, pealed, seeded, and sliced 1/4-in thick into 2-in lengths
• 1 tablespoon coarse salt for the dewatering of cucumber
• 1/2 cup sesame seeds
• 1 tablespoon coriander seeds
• 1 teaspoon timur (Szechwan pepper)
• 1 tablespoon hot chili paste
• 1 tablespoon garlic paste
• 2 tablespoons tamarind paste
• 3 tablespoons mustard oil, or good olive oil
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• Pinch of asafetida
• Salt to taste
• 1 tablespoon cilantro, chopped, for garnish

Cooking Instructions:

In a large bowl, mix cucumber slices and salt. Let it rest for at least two hours to extract water from cucumber. Cucumber will have released a good amount of liquid; drain. Dry-roast sesame, cumin, and coriander seeds until toasted. In a blender, mix all the toasted seeds, timur, chili, tamarind and garlic pastes, oil, black pepper, asafetida, and salt into a thick pickle paste. Pour the pickling mixture into dewatered cucumber slices; mix thoroughly. For garnish, sprinkle chopped cilantro. Refrigerate in a sterilized jar.