Pickles & Chutneys
Oil-preserved mango and lime, tangy chutneys and coarse dry podis: the pickles and chutneys that make a plain plate of dal-rice or roti feel complete.
Vegetable Pickles
Winter gobhi-shalgam-gajar achar, stuffed red chillies, garlic and mixed vegetable pickles in mus…
Fruit Pickles
Raw mango avakaya and kairi achar, salty or sweet lime, amla and karonda pickles: the fruit pickl…
Chutneys
Sweet tamarind saunth for chaat, mango and tomato chutneys, and herb-based chutneys in jars, read…
Dry Chutneys & Podis
Milagai podi, paruppu podi, curry leaf and peanut-garlic powders: dry chutneys you mix with ghee…
Achar in the north, oorugai in Tamil Nadu, uppinakayi in Karnataka, lonche in Maharashtra: every language has its own word for pickles, and nearly every family has a recipe it swears by. This section gathers pickles and chutneys from that wide tradition, for the plate rather than the showcase.
Vegetable pickles cover mixed achar, chilli, carrot, garlic and similar preparations preserved in oil, salt and spice. Fruit pickles lean on raw mango, lime, gooseberry and their sour cousins, which carry most of the summer pickling season. Chutneys here are the bottled, ready-to-use kind, sweet or tangy, made from tamarind, mango, tomato or herbs. Dry chutneys and podis are coarse powders of roasted dal, sesame, peanut, curry leaf or garlic that you mix with ghee or oil and eat with idli, dosa or rice.
A quick look at the label tells you a lot. Note which oil is used, how much salt and chilli you are dealing with, and whether vinegar or preservatives are added. Then check the FSSAI licence number, manufacturer's address, packing date and best-before.
At home, keep oil pickles with a layer of oil on top and never dip a wet spoon. Dry podis stay crisp in a tightly closed jar.
Browse by region, by heat or by what you eat most days.