Pickles (Hindi: आचार, Urdu: اچار) are made from certain individual varieties of vegetables and fruits that are chopped into small pieces and cooked in edible oils like sesame oil or brine with many different Indian and Pakistani spices like asafoetida, red chili powder, turmeric, fenugreek, and plenty of salt. Some regions also specialize in pickling meats and fish. Vegetables can also be combined in pickles to make mixed vegetable pickle. Some varieties of fruits and vegetables are small enough to be used whole.

Recipe

The most common South Asian-style pickles are made from mango and lime. Others include cauliflower, carrot, radish, tomato, onion, pumpkin, palm heart, lotus stem, rose petals, ginger, Indian gooseberry,garlic, green or red chili peppers, kohlrabi, gunda (cordia), kerda, zimikand (purple yam), karonda, karela (bitter melon), jackfruit, mushroom, eggplant, cucumber, and turnip.

Homemade pickles are prepared in the summer and kept in the sun during daytime while stored in porcelain or glass jars with airtight lids. The high concentrations of salt, oil, and spices act as preservatives. Many commercially produced pickles use preservatives like citric acid and sodium benzoate.

Even using the same main ingredients, South Asian pickles come in a wide variety of flavors due to differences in spices and process. A mango pickle from South India may taste very different from one made in North India. In the southern states, sesame oil is preferred, while mustard oil is preferred in northern states for making pickles.

The term for pickles in Hindi, Urdu, Assamese, and Bengali is pronounced as achār, and written in their respective scripts as अचार, اچار, আচাৰ, and আচার.