West Indian

Lal Mirch Ka Achaar (Red Chili Pickle)

Name: Lal Mirch Ka Achaar (Red Chili Pickle)
Total time: 30 min
Yield: 12 servings
Cuisine: West Indian
Ingredients: 15 red chilies; 1/2 cup mustard oil; 2 tbsp coarsely ground mustard seeds; 1 tbsp coarsely ground fennel seeds; 1 tsp fenugreek seeds; 1 tsp turmeric; 3 tbsp lemon juice; 3 tbsp salt

Nikhil Kelkar @nikhil_thali

Lal Mirch Ka Achaar (Red Chili Pickle) is West Indian home cooking, eaten at lunch and dinner. On the plate it is the condiment. Below is what usually sits beside it, what it does and does not contain, and what else to cook once you have made it.

30 min Medium Diabetic friendly Low carb Vegetarian Vegan Pescatarian Halal Gluten free Dairy free

Ingredients

Serves

The quantities follow this count.

15 red chilies
1/2 cup mustard oil
2 tbsp coarsely ground mustard seeds
1 tbsp coarsely ground fennel seeds
1 tsp fenugreek seeds
1 tsp turmeric
3 tbsp lemon juice
3 tbsp salt

How to cook it

Wash the red chilies and pat them completely dry, then slit each one lengthwise, keeping it intact.
Mix the coarsely ground mustard seeds, fennel seeds, fenugreek seeds, turmeric, and salt in a bowl.
Stuff each slit chili generously with the spice mixture.
Heat the mustard oil until it just starts to smoke, then let it cool slightly.
Pack the stuffed chilies into a clean, dry glass jar, and pour over the warm mustard oil and lemon juice so the chilies are fully submerged.
Seal and set the jar in the sun for a few days, shaking it once daily, until the chilies soften and the oil turns deep red.
Store at room temperature and spoon out a little alongside any meal.

Watch how to cook Lal Mirch Ka Achaar (Red Chili Pickle)

Someone making it start to finish, so you can see what the steps look like.

Serve it with

A West Indian dinner is a plate rather than a single dish. These are the courses that normally sit beside Lal Mirch Ka Achaar (Red Chili Pickle), read from the same composition Dinejot builds a real meal from.

The dish at the centre
- Aamti (Goda-Masala Spiced Dal)
  
  40 min
The cooked vegetable
- Batata Bhaji (Dry Potato Bhaji)
  
  25 min
What it is eaten with
- Bajra Bhakri (Pearl Millet Flatbread)
  
  35 min
- Jowar Bhakri (Sorghum Flatbread)
  
  30 min
Something cool and fresh
- Koshimbir (Cucumber-Peanut Curd Salad)
  
  15 min

Safe at your table

Dinejot tracks ten allergens and tags every one of them by hand. Lal Mirch Ka Achaar (Red Chili Pickle) carries none of them. That is a checked answer rather than an ingredient list nobody read.

Every tracked allergen in Lal Mirch Ka Achaar (Red Chili Pickle)
Allergen	In this dish
Peanuts	No
Tree nuts	No
Dairy	No
Gluten	No
Shellfish	No
Eggs	No
Soy	No
Fish	No
Sesame	No
Coconut	No

These tags are set by a person rather than inferred from an ingredient list, and they describe the recipe as written here. Read the labels on whatever you actually buy.

What it brings to the plate

Estimated, per serving

Calories: 90 kcal
Protein: 1 g
Carbs: 4 g
Fat: 8 g
Fiber: 2 g
Sugar: 1 g
Sodium: 580 mg
Saturated fat: 1 g

Estimated values. Actual nutrition varies with ingredients, brands, and how you cook.

When to cook it

Lal Mirch Ka Achaar (Red Chili Pickle) takes about 30 minutes from a cold stove to the table, and the cooking itself is a fair bit of work. It is eaten at lunch and dinner. Nothing in the calendar rules it out, so it is a year round dish.