Bangladesh In
Bengali culture, pickles are known as
Achar (
Bengali: আচার) or Asar (
Bengali: আসার). They are an integral part of
Bengali cuisine, adding flavours to meals. They are made by preserving various fruits, vegetables, and even fish or meat in a mixture of spices, oil, and vinegar or lemon juice. The process involves marinating the chosen ingredient with a blend of spices such as mustard seeds, fenugreek, nigella seeds, and chili powder. The pickles are then left to mature in airtight jars, allowing the flavours to develop over time. Bengali pickles have tangy, spicy, and sometimes sweet taste profiles. They are often served as accompaniments to rice, bread, or curry. Popular varieties include mango, lime, mixed vegetable, and fish pickles. The
Shatkora achar of
Sylhet and
Chui jhal achar of
Khulna are known even outside India and Bangladesh. File:আমের আঁচার.jpg|Making Bengali mango pickle File:গুড় আম.jpg|Mango and Date jaggery achar
India Among the many regional variations in India, a
lotus stem pickle is made in
Kashmir;
gongura leaves are used in
Andhra Pradesh; prawns with garlic and
curry leaves are pickled in the southern coastal state of
Kerala;
bamboo shoots are fermented with
mustard seeds and oil in
Assam; whole
lemons are pickled with
asafoetida, mustard seed, and
turmeric in
Maharashtra; whole garlic cloves form the base of a pickle in
Karnataka; and
tomatoes are pickled with mustard seed, red chili, and curry leaves in
Tamil Nadu. File:Sweet pickle made out of mango, in West Bengal, India.jpg|Sweet and spicy
mango pickle File:Mangopickle.jpg|Indian spicy
mango pickle File:Various kinds of pickles for sale at a shop in Dakshineswar, Kolkata, India.jpg|Pickles for sale in
Kolkata Myanmar (Burma) The
Burmese word for pickle is
thanat (). Mango pickle () (
thayet thi thanat) is the most prevalent variety. The pickle is made with green, ripe, or dried mangoes cured in vinegar, sugar, salt, chili powder,
masala, garlic, fresh chilies, and
mustard seeds. Mango pickle is commonly used as a condiment alongside curries and
biryani in
Burmese cuisine. It is a mainstay ingredient in a
Burmese curry,
wet thanat hin (), that combines pork belly with the pickle.
Nepal In
Nepal,
achaar () is commonly eaten with the staple
dal-bhat-tarkari as well as
momo. Many
achaar factories in Nepal are women-owned or operated by women. File:Dalle Khursani And Fermented Bamboo Shoot Pickle.jpg|Nepali pickle made of
Dalle Khursani (round chilies) and
Tama (fermented bamboo shoot pickle) File:Mula Ko Aachar.jpg|Mula Ko Aachar File:Jhol_Momo.jpg|Broth made from achar used for
jhol momo Pakistan The
Sindh province of modern-day Pakistan is noted for its
Shikrarpuri and
Hyderabadi pickles. Both of these
achaar varieties are commonly eaten in
Pakistan and abroad. The most popular Shikarpuri
achaar is a mixed pickle made of carrots,
turnips, onions, cauliflower, chickpeas, garlic, green chillies, lime, and mango. File:Lasoora Pickle.JPG|
Lasora achar, with
fragrant manjack berries
Sri Lanka In Sri Lanka, green ginger, onion, and chilies are salted and flavoured with garlic, mustard seed, and vinegar. Other spices and sugar may be added. Either vegetables or fruits such as the
Ceylon olive (
veralu) or the
hog plum (
amberalla) may be used.
Middle East •
Amba is a sweetened mango pickle, brought back to
Baghdad by
Iraqi Jewish merchants from
Bombay. It somewhat resembles a spicy
mango chutney. It is used across the
Middle East.
Africa In
South Africa,
Botswana and
Kenya, Indian pickles are called atchar. They are made primarily from unripe mangoes and are sometimes eaten with bread. On
Mauritius and
Réunion a local variation is called
Achard de légumes in French or
Zasar legim in
Mauritian Creole. It is prepared with a mixture of vegetables like cabbage, carrots, green beans, chayote, palm heart and onions. This is spiced with cumin, turmeric, green chilies, red chilies, ginger, garlic, salt and vinegar. ==See also==