Tomato, Green Chili and Garlic pickle

Name: Tomato, Green Chili and Garlic pickle (Paani Achaar)
Yield: Makes 4 cups
Cuisine: Nepali
Ingredients: 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper powder; 2 tablespoons ground mustard seeds; ½ teaspoon ground turmeric; 1½ teaspoon salt, or adjust to taste; ⅛ teaspoon timmur (Nepali pepper), finely ground with a mortar and pestle; ⅛ teaspoon timmur (Nepali pepper), finely ground with a mortar and pestle; 1 tablespoon mustard or vegetable oil; 1 tablespoon mustard or vegetable oil; 3 to 4 hot green chili peppers, cut into long slivers; 4 medium tomatoes; 1 tablespoon finely julienned fresh ginger; 4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced

Paani Achaar

Preparation info

Makes
4
cups

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

Food and Flavours from Nepal

By Jyoti Pathak

Published 2023

About

This hot, spicy fermented tomato pickle is called “fina-taagu achaar” in Newari and “paani achaar” in Nepali. This easy recipe does not require any cooking—instead all ingredients are placed in a jar and the sun does all the pickling. Use only fresh and fully ripened red tomatoes.

Ingredients

4 medium tomatoes
3 to 4 hot green chili peppers, cut into long slivers
4 cloves garlic

Asia
Nepal
Vegan
Gluten-free

Method

Cut each tomato into 4 to 6 pieces. Place the tomatoes in a jar with green chilies, garlic, ginger, ground mustard seeds, cayenne pepper powder, salt, turmeric, and timmur. Pour in the oil and shake the jar to mix well.

Cover the jar and place in a warm sunny area. Gently shake the jar every day during the fermentation process. The pickle will be ready when it is slightly soured with a