CHENNAI: Our plates are often colourful with spoonsful of rice, curries, bread, and chutneys. Complementing these and elevating the taste of each bite, we find shades of orange, brown, red, or green with cubes of raw mango, onion, mutton, chicken, and others that taste sweet, sour, and spicy. This rich, relishing element that makes a meal satisfactory is the pickle. What better time to pay an ode to this flavourful condiment than the summers?
Pickles are one of the oldest elements of our Indian culinary tradition, being recorded in history since the most ancient of human civilisations. Recipes, techniques, and flavours have been passed down through numerous generations, so it’s no surprise that for many families, there is a rich heritage that involves the many delights of pickles. The making peaks during the summer as the raw materials are easily and widely available. Prepared this season, they tend to last for more than a year. Each pickle has a story and the makers have jars full of memories. Here are a few stories of a journey with the age-old tradition.
Kalamathi Arumugam, homemaker
This 60-year-old native of Sathyamangalam, Erode, is better known as ‘modern paati’ in the neighbourhood. Active on social media platforms such as YouTube and Instagram, Kalamathi aims to acquire new ideas and recipes on the Internet. While the recipes she seeks might be keeping with the times, she still holds on to traditional cooking methods like using a chatti paanai.
Like many in her generation, Kalamathi took to cooking young. Looking back at her first experiment with cooking, she says, “I was in my twenties and new to cooking. I started the practice by making pickles as it required less effort. The recipe followed was through word of mouth from people around me. The trial turned out to be better than I expected. This motivated me to make pickles more often.” It has been 30 years now and every summer, Kalamathi sits under the sun on her wooden chair spreading out raw materials to fill the ceramic jars with pickles.
For her, pickle-making is a relaxing activity and she has made it her hobby to try out different pickles. Her specialities include amla, sun-dried curd chillies (mor milagai) and vathals. Kalamathi shares that her favourite pickle is mango because it’s piquant and easy to make. “I am passionate about creating good food. I enjoy cooking for my family as seeing them satisfied by my food is fruitful,” she says. According to her, pickles are essential as they add a savoury flavour. She suggests, “Cooking pickles in a mud pot is healthy and enhances the pickle’s true taste.” Sharing one of her recipes, she says that people overlook the fact that green chillies are filled with enriching nutrients including carbohydrates, proteins, and fibres. “By consuming green chilli pickle with curd rice, the spice level becomes tolerable and benefits of green chilli is also enjoyable.”
Irudhaya Mary, homemaker
My mother used to make pickles. Observing her, I learned the recipe and started making them for my kids,” shares 77-year-old Irudhaya Mary, who has been making pickles for 60 years. Holding on to authentic pickle-making procedures, she specialises in making mango, lemon, amla, and garlic pickles. But she has techniques to turn the bitter taste of narthangai into a delectable companion by adding cane sugar to it. Irudhaya says, “Soaking the narthangai in salt without adding a drop of water, makes the pickle perfect.”
The whole process of making pickles gives her satisfaction and peace. “I usually cook for the entire family of 15 members and I love seeing that the pickles I prepare make them happy,” she says. The season of narthangai is limited, so she makes the best out of it when they are available in plenty. “Narthangai is rich in vitamin C so adding it to our food as a pickle helps the body deal with high temperatures during summer,” she says, suggesting that preserving pickles in a jar covered with a cloth results in longevity.
Sapna Panjabi, home chef
Roughly 35 years ago, Sapna was a school-going girl eager to return home every day only to taste the new pickle her mom had prepared. “I rushed home to put my hands in the bharni (jar) and taste it. After that, I would name the ingredients used to make the achaar (pickle), and I was always almost right in identifying them,” shares Sapna. This habit slowly became an interest and she began her pickle-making journey starting with raw mango, carrot, radish, turnip, pumpkin, white onion, mango, and many more.
“My signature pickle would be the raw mango and mango chutney, which can be made from sugar or jaggery. The best part of making pickles is preparing the masalas. I love it; masala mixing gives me pleasure,” she shares, adding that all this is possible because of her passion for cooking and learning. “I learnt most of the recipes I follow from my mother, a Sindhi, and my Gujarati aunt. I did not want to modify their recipes because they are gold and I don’t want to compromise on quality,” notes Sapna.
As summer is the best season for the availability of mangoes, Sapna is all set with her masala boxes, spatulas and bharnis to prepare pickles and share them with her friends and family.
Upala’s Kitchen
In our families, making pickles is like a tradition every summer,” says Jyotsna Reddy, who grew up in a household with age-old pickle traditions being practiced. Jyotsna is the brain behind Upala’s Kitchen, a city-based local business that specialises in various kinds of pickles, along with podis and pachadis. Speaking of her early memories associated with making pickles, she fondly recalls, “The smell of pickles itself takes me back to my childhood days, I can remember all those good times. We get the mangoes, we cut them, we all sit together, we gossip, laugh, and some families even sing while making these pickles. Making a pickle is not one person’s effort, it takes the whole family, right from collecting the fruit or vegetable and then preparing the final product. It’s a family ritual for us. Even as kids we used to follow our parents, it was so memorable for me, seeing the whole family together during the summer holidays to make pickles.”
The nostalgia that the tart taste of a pickle elicits is undoubtedly associated with hot summer days, as we all look forward to adding that flavourful spice to our curd rice or parathas. Jyotsna explains this link between pickles and summers, saying, “Summers are usually associated with pickles due to the availability of raw mangoes, which is the most popular fruit for pickles. This makes the summer perfect for pickling.”
According to Jyotsna, the avakkai pickle is the mother of all pickles, and it is this variety of raw mangoes that is most used in the South Indian pickling process. She elucidates, “There are millions of pickles, and each one has a different pickling process. For the avakkai, first, we pick very specific raw mangoes. We cut them a certain way, we mix chilli powder, salt, and mustard powder. Then we add gingelly oil, as it works well with the mangoes and gives the pickle a unique flavour. Once you mix all of that, you bottle it in huge jars, and for the next three days, it needs a little tossing. We periodically open the jars and toss the pickle with our own hands. Though we can use ladles, our own hands work best as only then you can feel the texture of the pieces and how well they have mixed with all the spices. This mixing requires a lot of energy and effort, and after three days, your avakkai is ready. You can keep it stored for the entire year as there’s no expiry date as such for any authentically homemade pickle. As the pickle ages, the flavours seep into the mango pieces and due to the fermentation process it tastes very good at each stage of the pickle’s life.”
Upala’s Kitchen offers multiple varieties of pickles such as classic mango avakkai, bitter gourd pickle, cauliflower pickle, green chilli pickle, and more.
Order online at: www.upalaskitchen.in
Andhra Delicacy
Every individual has their story with pickles, and for Sowjanya Dhanala, who now owns a small business making Andhra-inspired pickles, it started with a strong dislike for the popular condiment. She laughs and recollects, “In my childhood, I used to hate pickles because I found them very spicy. But once I got married, my husband taught me to appreciate different kinds of pickles. He used to make various varieties, and asked me to taste them, so that is how I gradually started to like pickles. My mother-in-law also makes pickles so I learnt from them.”
Sowjanya’s husband, Bharath Kumar Ghattamaneni, attests to this and adds, “Whenever Sowjanya used to come to my hometown, my mother used to prepare pickles and mix them with rice. When Sowjanya had it, she also began to like the taste. That’s how I initially shared my love for pickles with her.”
Speaking of his own early memories associated with pickles, Bharath says, “We generally love spicy food in our household, especially when it’s made by my mother and grandmother. They used to make pickles every year as a tradition. Whenever they prepare the pickles, I remember they used to mix the remaining spicy oil with rice, make it into small balls, and give it to us children to eat.”
Although Sowjanya’s childhood involved a distaste for pickles, she has come a long way and is now truly connected to South Indian pickles, just like her husband and mother-in-law. Regarding the key to making good pickles, she expertly reveals, “The most basic aspect in making a pickle is the quality of the red chilli powder that we use. We personally use chillies from our own farms, which are pure and organic. The right quantity of salt is also essential. One of the most important steps in making a pickle is properly cleaning the vegetable or fruit. We clean it three to four times and dry it thoroughly to get the best quality of pickle.”
Try out Sowjanya’s pickles at Andhra Delicacy, with options like the tried and tested lemon pickle, goungura pickle, ginger pickle, and more.
Order online at: www.andhradelicacy.com
White onion pickle
by Sapna Panjabi
Ingredients
White onion (small): 1
Fenugreek: 1 tsp
Black mustard: 1 tsp
Red chilli powder: 1 tsp
Salt: 1 tsp
Mustard oil:½ tsp
Method
Do not cut the white onion into pieces but make a slit on all four sides of the onion. Mix fenugreek, black mustard, red chilli powder and salt in sterilised water and mustard oil. Stuff the mixed gravy in the crosses made in the onion.
Pour the remaining sauce on top of the onion with a few drops of
vinegar for preservation. Store in an air-tight jar.
Narthangai pickle
by Irudhaya Mary
Ingredients
Narthangai (citron): 1
Fenugreek: 20 g
Cumin seeds: 20 g
Mustard seeds: 20 g
Sesame oil: 10 tsp
Garlic (whole): 2
Chilli powder: 1 tsp
Asafoetida: a pinch
Cane sugar: 1/2 tsp
Method
Wash and dry the narthangai completely.
Soak it in salt and cover the bowl with a cloth.
Sun dry the mixture for three days.
Sautè fenugreek, cumin and mustard seeds in a pan and blend it as a powder.
In another pan, add oil and to it the blended powder.
On low flame, add garlic and saute, until it cooks.Add the dried narthangai, chilli powder, cane sugar and asafoetida and sautè it, till you get the aroma. Cook until the fruit softens and the oil floats.
Green chilli pickle
by Kalamathi Arumugam
Ingredients
Sesame oil: 100 g
Asafoetida: 1/2 tbsp, Garlic: 50 g
Shallots: 100 g, Green chilli: 250 g
Tamarind: 50 g, Jaggery: 1 tbsp
Turmeric, Salt, Curry leaves
Method
Take a pan and add sesame oil, mustard and asafoetida.
Add shallots, chopped garlic and narrowly cut green chilli into the oil.
Give it a nice mix in medium flame for about 5 minutes. Blend it and store in a glass jar.
Inputs from: Abhinaya SS, Angel Deborah, Meghana Sree R