From digestion to controlling sugar, here’s why you must have achar in winters

Pickles are one of the best side dishes that can increase the flavour of any meal. Be it stuffed parathas in the morning or a simple dal-chawal-roti meal in the afternoon, pickles can instantly make it flavourful. The tradition of making pickles goes back thousands of years and has a rich legacy with its mention in several culinary books. The very word pickle comes from the Dutch word ‘Pekel’ which means ‘brine’ and ‘Achar’ has its origins in the Persian language, which is defined as ‘powdered or salted meats, pickles, or fruits, preserved in salt, vinegar, honey, or syrup’.

Now, there are three kinds of pickles that you can find in India - those preserved in oil, in salt and in vinegar. Based on the preservation method used, one can store the pickle for longer times. And it is said the more you store the pickle, the more flavours it will have. You just name the vegetables and they can be pickled. If we look at the preservation methods of pickles, the ones with oil are mostly found across the country as this way it can be stored for a longer duration than the other two preservation methods. When the pickle is made using salt & vinegar, they are either made for immediate consumption or for a maximum time duration of 6 months to 1 year, while the pickle made with oil can last years of preservation.

Of all the seasons, winters are the best time to make jars of fresh pickles. Vegetables like carrot, radish, cauliflower, amla, green & red chillies, kachchi haldi are some of the easiest ones to make pickles with. In this article, we’ll talk about gajar-mooli ka achar, which is often enjoyed with plain parathas to stuffed parathas, and finds popularity in winters. It’s something that we have seen our moms, dadis and nanis making in large quantities to store for the next season and the best thing about this achar is that it uses fewer efforts.