All Indian pickles are great, but non-vegetarian pickles are the best!
Pickling of meat and fish is traditionally popular in the four states of south India, and Goa.
When it comes to pickles, India has them all — from the very popular and most well-known mango pickle to lemon pickle, chilly and ginger pickle, vegetable pickles, jackfruit pickle and garlic pickle — to name just a few.
In fact, almost all types of vegetables are pickled in different parts of India.
However, what is not so common across the country are non-vegetarian pickles.
Although this may surprise you, non-veg pickles are in fact very prevalent in south India — in households were meat is consumed, a meal without them is considered incomplete.
These are very prevalent in south India — in households where meat is consumed, a meal without them is considered incomplete.
Chef Gersome, sous chef at Dravida The Fern, Ahmedabad, specialises in south Indian cuisine. He says, “Every state in south India makes non-vegetarian pickles and each household has its own traditional recipe, passed down from mother to daughter. Pickles add that extra zing to the food and take it to the next level but," he adds, "the art of pickling is dying in India.” At Dravida, they serve different kinds of non-vegetarian pickles along with the traditional food.
For centuries, the traditional knowledge of making pickles in India has been passed on from generation to generation... And since most people in India cook without a standard recipe, they add ingredients according to their own estimates and choice. That is also the reason why many traditional Indian dishes don’t have a standard recipe with exact measurements — but everyone loves their own version of the dish.
Coming back to non-vegetarian pickles, many states in the North-East also make meat pickles, with pork pickle being their favourite.
In the Coorg region of Karnataka, where people love eating pork, pork pickles have been made traditionally. Coorg — or Kodagu, as it’s now called — is located in the Western Ghats, a thickly forested area. Here, wild boar hunting was prevalent earlier, and since large amounts of pork would thus be available, it would be pickled. Now, however, the art of pickling pork is dying in the region, says Althanda Thammaiah, who owns a coffee estate in Gonikoppal, Kodagu.
However, the pickling of chicken, mutton, fish, prawns and even beef — in areas where beef-eating is legal — is very much part of the tradition of many families in the four states of south India, and also in Goa. Beef pickles are quite the delicacy in Kerala, for example.
Speaking about her experience with pickles, Selvie Yalamurthy, a Tamilian homemaker based in Ahmedabad, says, “My father-in-law Sampat Rao Yalamurthy made the best fish pickle I have tasted. Amazingly, he did everything — from buying fresh fish to making the pickle —himself, though in most families it is the women who make pickles. He was from the West Godavari region of Andhra Pradesh, and he made Andhra-style fish pickle regularly.”
Chef's Tips:
Don’t use iodised salt for pickles. Use sea salt. It improves shelf life and taste.
Masalas used for pickles should be roasted at the right temperature on slow flame, so that the taste is enhanced.
The jars used to store pickle should be washed thoroughly and dried in the sun to ensure the pickle doesn’t get spoilt.
There should be no water in the pickle to ensure long shelf life, so use clean dry spoons to stir and don’t add water to make ginger-garlic pastes.
Always use the best ingredients, fresh and of good quality.
Recipes
(All recipes are by Chef Gersome)
Chicken Pickle
This is an Andhra-style pickle. It is also called Kodi Chutney in Telugu. This pickle can be stored for six months without refrigeration.
Preparation time: 1 hour
Cooking time: 45 minutes
Ingredients
1 Kg Boneless Chicken
25 gm Ginger paste (don't add water to make the paste)
25 gm Garlic paste (don't add water to make the paste)
1 litre Peanut Oil
100 gm Chilly Powder (including 25 gm Degi Mirch)
1 tbsp Salt (or you can put salt according to your own taste)
1 tsp Roasted fenugreek seed powder
10 pieces Lemons
10 pods Crushed garlic pods
Method
Wash and dry chicken, so that no water remains in it. Cut chicken into one-inch cubes. Mix chicken, ginger and garlic paste in a glass or ceramic bowl. Add a teaspoon of salt and keep aside for 30 minutes.
Deep fry the chicken in peanut oil, preferably in an iron wok, over medium heat till it crisps up on the top and is done. Don’t over-fry. Keep aside to cool to room temperature
In another ceramic or glass bowl, add the roasted fenugreek seed powder and the juice of 10 lemons. Squeeze the lemons to extract juice at least 3 hours before you start making the pickle. Keep the juice in the sun so that it evaporates a little in the natural heat. Don’t heat it on a stove.
Add crushed garlic to the lemon juice and fenugreek powder mixture. Also add the red chilly powder and the remaining salt. Mix the fried chicken in this mixture. Strain the oil used for frying the chicken. Bring this oil to room temperature and add it to the chicken pickle mixture.
Once all of this is properly blended, put in a glass or ceramic airtight jar for storage. Keep in a cool place. Ensure that the oil is well on top of the chicken — with one inch of oil floating on top.
Fish Pickle
This is a Kerala-style pickle. It can be stored for three months without refrigeration.
Preparation time: One hour
Cooking time: 45 minutes
Ingredients
1 kg Boneless fish (Either Indian Tuna or Bedki)
50 gm Ginger cut into thick juliennes
50 gm Garlic peeled and sliced
100 gm Chilly powder (including 25 gm degi chilly powder)
500 ml White vinegar
100 gm Sugar
1 tbsp Salt
1 tsp Roasted fenugreek seed powder
500 ml Coconut oil
500 ml Dark sesame oil
20 pieces Curry leaves (wash and dry completely in the sun)
Method
Clean and wash fish. Dry the fish. Cut into 1-inch long pieces or 1.5-inch rectangles. Marinate fish in 25 gm chilly powder and one tsp salt for 30 minutes in a glass bowl.
Heat 500 ml of coconut oil in an iron wok to medium heat and deep fry the fish till it is crisp and there is no water left in it. Cook in batches to ensure even cooking. If needed, check one piece of fish to ensure it is properly cooked. Keep aside to cool.
Strain the coconut oil and keep aside to cool.
In another iron wok, heat the sesame oil to medium heat and fry the ginger juliennes and garlic pieces till they are translucent. Then add in quick succession the curry leaves, chilly powder, salt and fenugreek powder, and give it a quick stir before adding all the vinegar. Ensure that the spices don’t burn. Keep all the ingredients close at hand so you can add them one after the other quickly.
Then add the sugar and cook for five minutes and switch the heat off. Bring the whole mixture to room temperature.
Mix the fried fish, the ginger, garlic and masala mixture with all the sesame oil and the cooled coconut oil and stir gently to mix it together.
Then store in a clean airtight glass or ceramic jar. Ensure the oil is at least one inch on top of the fish to ensure shelf-life. Store in a cool place.
Prawn Pickle
This is a Tamil Nadu-style pickle. It can be stored without refrigeration for three months.
Preparation Time: One hour
Cooking Time: 45 minutes
Ingredients
1 kg Shelled and deveined prawns
50 gm Ginger-garlic paste
100 gm Chilly powder (including 25 gm Degi mirch powder)
10 gm Roasted mustard seed powder
10 gm Roasted methi (fenugreek) seed powder
1 gm Hing (asafoetida)
50 gm thick tamarind paste (You can use readymade tamarind pulp)
1 tbsp salt (If you are using salted tamarind pulp then reduce salt to half)
1 litre Sesame oil
Method:
Clean and devein the prawns (deveining is to remove the vein inside the prawn)
Marinate the prawns in ginger garlic paste and 1 tsp salt and keep aside for 15 minutes.
Heat oil in an iron wok to medium heat and fry the prawns till they are crisp. Cool and keep aside. (Always fry prawns in small batches)
Put tamarind paste in the oil left after the prawns are fried. Ensure flame is on low heat so that the masalas are not burnt. Add chilly powder and remaining salt and cook for 2-3 minutes. Give a quick stir and add mustard seed powder, fenugreek seed powder and hing, and switch off the heat. Stir this mixture and cool.
Mix the fried prawns in the tamarind mixture and store in a glass or ceramic airtight jar. Ensure oil is one inch above the prawns and masalas for long shelf live. Keep in a cool place.