Behold: The lime pickle. Not the chili pickle, the mango pickle, the garlic pickle, the eggplant pickle, or any other kind of pickle. And certainly not that abomination, the “mixed pickle.” This here is lime pickle, the greatest and more exalted of all the pickles.
Man, me and lime pickle go back a long, long way. You see, in all my mixed-up, tri-continental, ruthlessly secular upbringing, desi food always held its rightful place. Now we lived in France, not a major center of desi culture either then or now, and this was before the globalization of so-called ethnic gourmet cuisine made the basic spices and ingredients available in all the world’s major cities. But we made do, and the key to our survival, desi food-wise, was the one line of prepared foods, spice mixes and achars on the market, which was inevitably Patak’s. So there was always a bottle of curry paste around — not to serve as the sole ingredient, of course, but to accelerate the process. And whether the curry was prepared from a paste or from scratch, there was always lime pickle on hand to give it the necessary je ne sais quoi.
To this day lime pickle is one of the essential condiments in my refrigerator — that and Dijon mustard (the proper smooth kind, not the grainy stuff), a combination that I guess pretty much encapsulates the flavors of my childhood. I find uses for lime pickle that other people don’t have — or so I think. Except I know that now, as I confess to you that I add lime pickle to my tuna fish salad, a whole bunch of you are going to reveal that you do the same.When I came back to the U.S. and started shopping at desi immigrant stores I was quite bewildered by the range of achars available, and the ever-growing number of manufacturers. I tried garlic pickles and coriander pickles and who knows what other kind of pickles, and found them ranging in appeal from heavenly to disgusting. Even within each type there is so much variation, in color and texture and smell, which you can often discern even when the vacuum sealed jar is still shut. There are pickles made in the U.S. and pickles made in the U.K. and pickles made at mysterious industrial parks all over India and Pakistan; South Indian pickles claiming additional properties that are indecipherable to my mongrel-Bong knowledge base; chunky pickles and pickles so smooth they seem to have been pureed.
I learned long ago to appreciate pickles other than the Patak’s of my childhood. But the sentimental connections linger. It was a pioneering brand and the first to make it big on the international market, even if the Guju-Kenyan owners of the Wigan firm had to drop an “h” from their name to make the pronunciation, if not always the taste, easier on the firangi tongue. Then a few years ago they had that classic family feud that ended up settled out of court. And now Patak’s is up for full or partial sale, for a reported GBP 200m, in order to raise capital to take it to whatever the next level is in the packaged and prepared Indian foods market. It even seems that Patak’s might be coming home, so to speak, as Indian conglomerate ITC is reported to have put in a bid. Apparently Heinz is also interested. Will we have a battle royal between Indian and American capital for control of the flagship achar brand?
Ah, for the artisanal pickles of our halcyon days. Anyone out there make their own achar? I’d be interested in learning how it’s done.
As a Bedekar-lovin ABD, I was proud to see my teenager get hooked on Priya’s tomato pickle eaten with rice-ghee-yogurt. Which incidently perks up prawn currys very well. My favorite lemon pickle is the Mahashtrian kind made by my agee, without mustard seeds, just tastes of sundried lemons. And pickled amla rocks!
BadIndianGirl – thank you … you’ve just cleared up for me why ‘pickle’ is on the list of substances which can’t be carried in hand luggage through Trichy airport (along with scimitars, golf clubs and revolvers).
this may be sacriligious, but for readers in the UK, try Tesco’s lime pickle – it’s the best (non-homemade) I’ve tasted.
Sonya, I had totally forgotten about (insert meat here)-achar! Red, one done right, it can be soooo good. I like dried fish achar best. I have never had it last more than 2-3 weeks, though. 3 months seems impossible.
i’m quite partial to SWEET lime pickle. it’s the perfect combination of sweet and kaara…perfect on bread with butter. or with yoghurt. or used in a chicken marinade. or really with anything…mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm…
Does anyone know if pickles have any nutritional value? For example, does the lime retain it’s vitamin C when preserved?
Does anyone know if pickles have any nutritional value? For example, does the lime retain its vitamin C when preserved?
MMMMMM! I eat it out of the Jarrrrrr! Better than Chocolate, That! You guys are making me hungry!
What is Urdur
Sniffle….mixed veggie pickles are some of my favorites…”abomination”, man?
Sonya – I know this post was a little while ago, but I have been desperately searching for a recipe for a pork achar. My dad and I love it and my massi used to make it. She’s an excellent cook, yet for some reason, she doesn’t want to share the recipe, insisting on making it for us instead. Weird, I know. Food is there to be enjoyed by everyone. As soon as I read your post about pork achar, I got excited! Is there any way you’d be able to give me a recipe? I make basic gajjar ki achar but that’s it, so it’d have to be idiot proof!
Sonya- When I was searching for mango achar recipes I found the above pickle recipes, thats great I didnt know you could make pork pickle. I believe you have more mango pickle/achar recipes. Is there any way that you could send the mango pickle/achar recipe please?
Does anyone have a recipe for good carrot pickles ? Came upon this entry searching for carrot acchaar on the net.
Lemon pickle is great with kichuri and one of the easiest and fastest pickles to make at home.
Are you talking “kadai” here? As in the desi style wok? Vegetables are fried in that so that is probably why fried veggies are called “kadai” in some regions.
My understanding was that the word “curry” originated from “kadi pata” (different from “kadai”). Kadi pata is used to make the famous Rajasthani dish – Kadi, which is a yogurt and flour sauce flavored with kadi pata to give it that distinct flavour. Kadi pata came to be called “curry leaf”. Pata means leaf. So any masala with curry leaf in it came to be called a “curry”. Currently any masala mix in general is now called “curry”. But it all started with that one little leaf.
Respected Sir / Mam
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