You love pickles with rice and rotis, and snacks as well. Usha R Munshi discovers that making them is fun, too!

Our grand-mothers and generations before that made pickles year after year with great enthusiasm. You've probably wanted to, too, but couldn't bring yourself to expend all that time and energy. The good news: It's easy! And can be quick!

The Truth About Making Pickles

Pickles are not difficult to make, nor preserve!

Essentially, there are two things to pickle making - the main ingredient (mango, lime), and the method.

These days, you have the choice of several pickle making methods. In our 'Gourmet' section, you have the slow traditional way that takes four to six weeks - the way our grandmoms would do it -- and the cheat's ways. There are also pickle masalas available in the market that you could try. Pick your style.

Next come the ingredients - again you have numerous choices.

So, ingredient, method... Next, follow the law book.

Cut And Keep

• Scrupulously, wash and dry all utensils and the ingredients!

• Sterilise the jars that you will use to store the pickles. So also the lids. For this, immerse them in boiling water and leave to simmer for a few minutes. Remove, drain and place them first upside down, then upright on a clean kitchen towel till completely dry. You can even leave them out in the sun to dry.

• Ensure that all the ingredients, containers and spoons or ladles, too, like the jars, are completely dry.

• Use only airtight jars and rustproof lids for storage. Pickles deteriorate when allowed to come in contact with the moisture in the air.

• Always use glass, porcelain or china jars for storing pickles. Even plastic serves fine. Avoid stainless steel, brass and aluminium storage jars, as they react with the ingredients.

• Make sure the fruits and vegetables are neither too raw nor overripe, in which case your pickles will go bad.

• While mixing oil, spices, and other ingredients, use only wooden spoons or ladles. Stainless steel may be used for very brief periods.

Spices, Powders And More

Most spices are easily available. But, if you want to get a bit adventurous, and experiment, here are a few tips to use home-ground powders for a better taste.

Chilli powder: Clean the red chillies and dry them in the sun for two days. Have them crushed and powdered. Pass through a sieve before using.

Mustard powder: Wash the mustard seeds and dry them. While grinding, care should be taken not to allow the oil to seep out. For that, coarse-grind the dried seeds quickly in the grinder. Ideally, the grinding should be done just before mixing into the pickle.

Salt: Salt crystals (rather than iodised or table salt) should be dried and then powdered.

Getting It Right

Even when you follow the method of the pickle recipe to the last 'T', you might still have a slightly less-than-perfect taste. This could be because of the inherent taste of the fruits/vegetable or other ingredients. For example, in a mango pickle, the sourness of the mangoes or the fieriness of the chillies available could vary from region to region. Also, there can be inconsistency in the taste and flavour of the fruit within the quantity bought in one purchase, if they are from different orchards or trees!

No need to panic or worry. After the initial marinating period, it is vital to stir and mix the pickle thoroughly and check its taste. Then, add salt, chilli or any other spice powders or oil as required. Such additions are needed at times to ensure good taste of the pickles you've made. And, your tongue knows best.

They Made Pickles, So Can You!

I Made: Mango pickles - three varieties - just once. I picked a few mangoes from a friend's garden, cut them to different sizes and made the spicy South Indian avakaya, sweet mango and salt-only pickle! They were all polished off by my friends.

What I Liked About Making Pickles: It's fun, innovative, exciting. Also very satisfying - you can store this for a while, and every time someone eats it, you can feel great about it. In fact, pastas and salads are passé now. Everyone seems to be making pickles. What's in or what is going to be in very soon, are the traditional 'grandma' pickles, of course, made a lot simpler! It's all about good taste and quick-to-make recipes!

- Lalitha Shivaprasad, 28, Market Research Project Director, Bangalore

I Made: A sweet lemon pickle. Actually, I was stuck with three dozen ripe, large, juicy lemons and I was too lazy to squeeze them for lemonade. I cut them into equal sized pieces, added a bit of chilli powder, sugar and lots of salt...

What I Liked About Making Pickles: It was great fun. I felt proud that I managed to make delicious pickle. In fact, it was easy too and I think I will try making more! It isn't really a grandma chore at all. Actually, it's not too time consuming either. And, instead of worrying about the 'unhealthy' colour and low quality ingredients in readymade pickles, we could make them our way, right at home!

- Gandhali Paranjpe, 30, Journalist, Mumbai