Chef Kunal Kapur shares some close guarded pickle recipes from India
It can’t get more micro than this: an 18-episode TV show on Indian pickles that celebrity chef Kunal Kapur is hosting as he says making preserves “is the epitome of culinary strength.”
“Making a pickle is the epitome of culinary strength; it is an art that is combined with a high level of science of preserving food,” Kapur told IANS.
“It is said that pickles were first made in India. It was here in India that, for the first time, the art form of cooking was taken to a higher level science, which is preservation. This preservation of art is to most of us just an accompaniment, whereas seldom do we realise how it is the reason for our existence and a living proof of the genius that exists in our country,” Kapur said.
“There are ingredients and techniques that keep you intrigued and surprised. Not just each region but each community has some unique pickles and their own unique reasons and stories behind how and why they prepare them,” he added, “As I have discovered, pickles are an integral part of how people define their food culture, and each region is intensely passionate about their pickles.”
For instance, with the Parsis in Ahmedabad, it is mandatory to make lagan nu achar and give it to the elders and relatives in the family before they formalise the marriage of a couple, said Kapur.
“In another fascinating instance, the Karbi tribe in Meghalaya has evolved a special dance that enacts the recipe of the bamboo pickle. The ancestors knew that if the bamboo was not pickled in the right season then it might lead to hunger in the winters, and so the recipe for this crucial pickle was made into a dance form and till date the couples enact this dance to reveal the recipe,” the chef shared.
“The ker shrub and the sangri tree are the few that grow in this otherwise difficult region. The cattle would eat it and give milk. The roots would hold on to the soil, and at the same time, the tree would give shelter. The fruits of the khejri tree is the sangri and this tree is a very critical tree to the ecology of the place. Many have sacrificed their lives to protect this tree. The ker sangri pickle made from this tree is one of the reasons for the survival of the Bishnoi tribe,” Kapur said.
Another fine example is the Mahali pickle made by the Tamilian Brahmins. “Mahalo is a root that smells of intense vanilla, bitter almond and cinnamon, and it is pickled in yogurt. It is not short of a miracle that no vinegar or oil is used yet the pickle survives for over two years in curd,” the chef noted.
Then, a Hyderabadi style of mango pickle breaks the long held notion by me that a drop of water can destroy a pickle, as this mango pickle is made in water, “limestone or chuna is added to preserve the pickle,” said Kapur.
“The depth of taste and passion along with the personality of the pickle maker is one common thread that I found in my wonderful journeys of discovery,” Kapur said.