Pickle tales – The Hindu

Pickle is nothing less than a tangy and spicy staple of Indian cuisine. Almost every Indian loves to have it with the main course. Fruits and vegetables are fermented with spices, oil and vinegar to preserve them for a longer duration. Raw mango, jackfruit, garlic, lemon, chilli, tomatoes, the options are endless. Only an Indian can better understand the mouth-watering tanginess of pickle.

In the olden days, every home kitchen — mostly women — had a secret recipe for pickles. But with time and modernisation, pickles have emerged as a business option and many brands are selling it with advertisements claiming theirs tastes like grandmother’s making. These brands are attempting to deliver the nostalgic taste to urban dwellers who lack the resources to make pickle. Every food item is now available in processed and packed form, and the love for pickle remains strong.

But no market-based packed pickles can ever match the taste of the home-made variety of yore. Grandmothers or mothers would preserve pickles in ceramic jars. Among the many memories of summer, one staying brightest is of the pickles.

My mother used to prepare pickles on her own. It’s an art that needs perfection, patience and right balancing of spicy flavours. Grandmothers and mothers prepare this delicacy every summer with all their fondness to be enjoyed the whole year. The mesmerising taste of pickle, no matter which fruit or vegetable it is of, holds special memories in our life. Every summer story is incomplete without discussing the flavours of taste, and pickle is one such part of it.

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