Ginger Chilli Pickle | Adrak ka Achar

An easy ginger chili pickle that tickles your tastebuds with it's wonderful flavors. This fresh ginger chili pickle can be made within minutes with staple ingredients in your home.

This Punjabi ginger chili pickle does not require much time to make. All you need to do is marinate ginger and green chili's in salt and lime juice. In the chilly winters of North India, this lemon ginger chili pickle is a staple condiment in many homes.

This pickle is also known as Nimbu Mirch Adrak ka Achar in Hindi, where nimbu is lime, mirch is chili and adrak is ginger. Ginger is well-known for the heat-retaining quality that makes it a perfect addition to such winter recipes.

This is not a recipe or pickle that you will find in restaurants or in indian parties. This is real home food. This is something I have every time I visit my parents. I love it, so my mom would always have it ready before I visit. Recently she was visiting me in California, and I asked her to make it so I can document the recipe here on the blog. I also ended up simplifying the recipe by using a chopper.

This pickle can be used to add some heat to your recipes. It pair well with pulao's, curry, lentil soups and even kaati rolls. It enhances the taste of the dish without the need for the addition of red chili powder or green chili while cooking the dish.

This lime ginger pickle can be served immediately as soon as you make it. However, its flavor becomes more enhanced when it marinates for a few days in the lime juice and salt. The ginger becomes salty and tangy and the chili adds the zing making it a tantalizing condiment.

Ingredients for Ginger Chili Lime Pickle

This north-Indian pickle requires only four ingredients commonly found in every home:

• Ginger (Adrak)
• Chilies (Mirch)
• Lime juice (Nimbu)
• Salt (Namak)

I used Thai chili's to make this pickle. You can use other varieties too, however I have only seen it made with slender chili's such as Thai or Birdseye.

I used lime when making this pickle. In India, we mostly use lime (even though it is always called lemon). However you can use either lime or lemon to make this pickle.

One of the best things about this condiment is that you can make it anytime and measurements can be adjusted according to your preferences. You can add more or less ginger and chilies according to your taste palate.

You can also make this pickle with just ginger or just green chili, depending on your preference. I love both and enjoy them in this pickle.

How to make ginger green chili pickle?

• Wash the ginger and chili and allow them to air-dry preferably overnight.
• You can use a knife to green chili into small rounds. But be sure to wear gloves as the raw chilies might cause the skin to burn or itch. You can also use a chopper such as shown below to cut the green chili into small pieces. This chopper made making this pickle so much easier.

• If you don’t want too much heat in the pickle, you can de-seed the chilies before chopping them.

•  In the same way, cut ginger into thin long strips or small cubes as you desire.
•  Alternatively, you can also use a chopper to cut ginger into small cubes. Slice thin ginger pieces, and then place them on the chopper to cut easily.

• In this way, you will get the chilies and ginger in a uniform size minus the mess of chopping.

• Now all you need to do is mix the fresh lime juice and salt to this ginger and chili pieces and mix them well.
• Add all the chopped ingredients along with the lime juice and salt in a mason jar and give them a good shake.

You can make this pickle fresh with your meal prep and it will last a week if kept outside. If you want this pickle to last longer for 1-2 months, then you can make a big batch and refrigerate it.

Tips for perfect Ginger Chili Pickle

• Be sure that the mason jar, chilis and the ginger are completely dry before you start making this dish. Even a little bit of moisture can make the pickle go bad sooner.
• Always use a dry and clean spoon to scoop up the pickle.
• In case, you are not that fond of chilies, you can make this same pickle with only ginger.
• There are no exact measurements to this pickle, so you can increase or decrease the quantity of the ingredients as per your taste palate.
• Typically only the ginger and green chilis from this pickle are scooped and enjoyed with a meal. The lime juice is left behind. Hence even though the sodium content looks really high in the nutrition info, the salt is mainly to marinate and preserve the pickle.

Enjoy this easy pickle with your meals and do share back how you like it!