Chutneys, Pickles, and Relishes

Appears in
top 1000My Bombay Kitchen
My Bombay Kitchen

By Niloufer Ichaporia King

Published 2007

  • About
There are two schools of thought on pickles and chutneys. My mother thought that a well-seasoned dish didn’t need to be embellished. My father was in the other camp. He loved having at least three different pickles and chutneys on hand at all times because every dish, however well seasoned, could be made even more exciting. I’m somewhere in the middle. To me, chutneys and pickles are like jewelry for food. Sometimes you want to make a strong statement, sometimes a restrained one.

Kachumbars and raitas are another matter. Where a pickle or chutney is an optional adjunct to a meal, a well-chosen kachumbar or raita can be an essential accessory, just the thing needed to balance taste and texture. As with a salsa, there are dishes you wouldn’t dream of eating without a kachumbar. Parsis have two basic ones—a plain onion relish, and one made sweet and sour with jaggery and tamarind. Raitas, or raitus in Gujarati, offer balance and contrast in taste and temperature. You’ll find four of my favorites, all easy to make.