pickle

A pickle, or achaar, is usually made from vegetables or fruit preserved in oil, salt, vinegar or lemon juice. Pickles are known for their intensity; they are punchy, sour, salty, often very hot, with a pronounced preserved flavour.

A little pickle goes a long way.

Pickles usually require a long preservation process, often involving days or weeks of fermentation or marination to develop their characteristic flavour. One of our favourite pickles is cooked in the sun and can take up to a year to fully develop its flavour.

You can also make pickles from fish or shellfish, such as the famous Goan prawn balchão.

Pickling food dates back to around 2000 BCE, and originated in the fertile crescent, largely corresponding to today’s Iraq.