Achar–Indian Winter Squash Pickles
Cascading Kitchen notes:
This is a delightful accompaniment to a rich winter meal.
Achar–Indian Pickles
The magic is in the marinade. Make these now, store them in your refrigerator and enjoy with a hearty fall meal.
adapted from Salt Sugar Smoke: How to Preserve Fruit, Vegetables, Meat, and Fish
by Diana Henry, published by Octopus Books, 2012
Preparing Suggested Veggies
Use either green beans, carrots, cauliflower or butternut squash cubes
- Blanch (submerge in boiling water in a colander) for 90 seconds to slow down the enzyme activity in the vegetable.
- Remove from boiling water and immediately place in very cold water to stop the cooking process.
- Drain and lay out on a clean tea towel to dry before adding to the prepared marinade.
Here is the magic marinade.
In a food processor:
- 2 red chilies or other hot peppers hanging out in your kitchen-stem and seeds removed
- 1 large onion-peeled and in chunks
- ¾ inch of fresh ginger (no need to peel if it’s washed and fresh)
- 6 cloves garlic-peeled
Whirl until a puree and pulse in 2/3 cup of oil
In a hot stainless frying pan add:
- An additional 1/3 cup of oil
- The onion puree and turn it down to medium heat. Cook for 15 min. Your goal is to cook off some of the water from the vegetables. Stir continually so it doesn’t scorch.
- Add to cooking mixture:
- 1 tbsp turmeric
- 1 tsp dry mustard
- 1 tsp yellow mustard seeds-crushed with the broad side of your knife.
- 2 tsp black peppercorns, lightly crushed
Cook for another 5 min.
Add
- Zest from 4 limes
- ¼ cup of fresh lime juice ( it might take 6-8 limes depending on their size)
- 1 cup cider vinegar
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 1 tbsp sea salt
- Cook for 3 more minutes.
- Let it cool.
- Stir in the lightly cooked vegetables and pack into a large glass jar.
- If after filling the jar the veggies are not fully covered add more oil until they are.
Achar can be stored in the refrigerator for 2-3 weeks…if it lasts that long!
How many cups or pounds of vegetables does this marinade make enough for?
Hi Caitlin,
Put it all in a half gallon jar and maybe have another half gallon jar available if it looks like plenty of marinade. We made these a number of years ago but considered it more work than it was worth. This should be treated more like a marinated salad in terms of how long it will last the fridge. Our go to quick pickle these days is the Sweet Refrigerator Pickle http://www.summerinajar.com/refrigerator-pickles/. You could add more garlic and peppers if you want to jump it up a bit.
Terrie
Thanks. I made these a few years ago too and I thought it was worth it!!! Looking forward to making them again this week, just trying to figure out how much of my weekly haul to set aside for it.