Basar Ji khatain| Onion Pickle| No Oil Pickle

Basar Ji Khatain (Basar = Onion, Khatain = pickle, in Sindhi) or ‘Paariyan waari Khatain‘ (water based pickle ) is my most favorite pickle for various reasons.

Firstly Onions are my favorite. I love the crunch of onions when added to salads, sandwiches, chaats, paavbhaji etc.

Secondly, many people are afraid of making pickles at home because pickles, when not handled properly tend to spoil pretty soon. Not the case with this pickle..the fungus and molds do not appear in the scene here. The worst thing that could go wrong with this pickle is that it may get too sour and change colour to blackish when stored for longer periods. But it seldom last that long.

Also generally pickles are very spicy, and most recipes call for enormous amount of oil to preserve the fruits or vegetables. But this pickle is oil free.

Most pickle recipes demand various spices, some are easy to fetch while others are hard to locate, especially if you stay away from India or at places where there are few Indian stores. This recipe calls for very few ingredients and those are easily available in your pantry.

Majority of pickles need to be stored in sunlight for number of days till they get mature. Also there are some pickles that take as long as few weeks to few months for maturing. This one hardly needs 2-5 days (Indian weather) to be ready to eat and maximum of 7 days if weather is not favorable in your part of the world.

Do you need any other reason to make this pickle?..yes ?? Ok..here is another one…..this is a damn tasty, tangy pickle 😉

Note: This Recipe of  mine, was published in Mumbai Mirror ( Edition: 12th February, 2012). BTW, all the links of articles related to SindhiRasoi, that are published in various magazines and newspapers, till now, are available here.

Onion Pickle in Mustard Water: (Always make this pickle in small quantities)

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Basar Ji khatain| Onion Pickle| No Oil Pickle

Rating  3.0 from 2 reviews

Prep time:  20 mins

Total time:  20 mins

Traditional Sindhi Pickle of Onions Pickled in Mustard seeds and water, flavored with fresh green garlic. A zero oil pickle Recipe.

Ingredients

• Baby Onions ( Red onions or white or spring onions ) 500 gm
• Turmeric powder 2 heaped tbsp
• Red chilly powder 2 tsp
• Yellow mustard seeds 3tbsp
• Salt Approx 2 tsp (more or less).
• Fresh garlic 25 gm (with green stalks)
• Water (preferably boiled and cooled)

Method

1. Peel baby onions and rinse well.
2. Slit the onions at the broader end to make a *+*
3. Coarsely pound the yellow mustard seeds.Chop the fresh garlic along with green stalks
4. Take a sterilized, airtight jar (preferably of glass or porcelain) and mix all the ingredients (The water must be above the levels of Onions)
5. Keep the jar in sun light or at warm place for 2-3 days.The pickle is ready to be consumed now !
6. If fresh garlic is unavailable, you can add green stalks of spring onions or even chives.For that missing garlic flavor, just add 2 cloves of crushed garlic.

Notes

The same pickle could be made by using carrots (cut in 2" pieces, spring onions, turnips etc.To hurry the pickling process, just blanch the vegetables in hot water with some salt and turmeric powder.Cool and proceed with the remaining steps) In absence of yellow mustard seeds, black mustard seeds can be used, but these tend to impart greyish colour to the pickle) Since there is no oil or high- salt content, this pickle has a short shelf life. Hence it is to be made in small batches, and consumed within 15 days if refrigerated or 7-10 days if kept without refrigeration.

2.2.5