A thread to divulge your personal experiences with achar (Indian pickle), condiment of the gods

I'm a pickle newb so please will people share their opinions about / experiences with this wonderful salty / bitter / spicy condiment - like what is your favorite kind of pickle? if you like the kinds sold at Indian groceries what is your favorite brand? what do you like to serve it with?

I don't know anything about brands, but lime pickle is the strongest flavor I have ever tasted. Craving it intensely right now.

Not sure which brands you have in the US but Patak is (imo justifiably) popular in the UK - though some of my family have recently switched to the India-made Ashoka. Other reliable Indian brands are Bedekar and Priya.

I generally have hot mango, lime and garlic pickles on hand. Aside from the obvious curries, etc, mango pickle with cheese on toast / lime pickle with peanut butter on toast are excellent.

Mr Naga Chili Pickle is very intense but excellent on everything from pizza to hummus.

Green tamarind, brinjal, lemon, etc are all good if you can find them.

It's probably relatively hard to get in the US, and i've never had store-bought, but kuchela (green mango pickle) from Trinidad / Guyana is worth trying.

lime pickle + veg samosa = bliss

oh wow thanks for these responses, need to try all these pickles. dosa with lime pickle is *chef's kiss*

Yeah, lemon/lime is what I eat most but I like a good mango pickle like this one. Nellikaai/amla/'gooseberry' pickle also v good if you can find it. I'm actually not really a fan of Patak's: too oily imo.

(It's probably the most commonly found around here, not sure in the US.) Would rank Ashoka and Bedekar above it. Up for investigating Mother's further after having a good vadu mango experience. My Mum makes a good cranberry pickle.

If you can find a good uppu manga (young raw green mangos sliced in super salty brine), that's one of my favourite things.

mmmmmmmm

how easy is it to make I wonder

Not super hard to make uppumanga or kuchela in theory but getting hold of enough young mangos is the challenge if you can't just drive out into the countryside and buy a bin bag full of them.

might start with lime pickle

this mango chat reminds me all the asian supermarkets by me have the honey mangos in. mmmmm

brinjal is my first love and it will be my last

got some green mango pickle - amazing

it's on my list baby

Inspired by this thread:

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— Bernard Snowy (@wasntmebro) July 28, 2020