Revisiting the art of capturing desi flavours and aroma of achaar in a jar
By Hiba Asad Wasti, Ahmad Shujaa, Wadiya Fatima & Fatima Anwar
Photography by Hiba Asad Wasti
KARACHI: Narrow streets, open hearts and smiling faces of shopkeepers is what makes achaar Gali (street) a conserved part of our culture. One is greeted by a strong burst of aroma on arrival at the renowned Hyderabad Colony located off main Jamshed Road.
As you walk by the cramped streets, you see shops lined up with a variety of achaars in tins and jars. While the quantum of variety itself is amazing, it is the process, which is more intriguing. Hyderabad colony, as its name propounds, was a colony constructed for migrants coming from Hyderabad Deccan. The settlers of the colony continued their tradition of spicy condiments and pickles to support sour and tangy cuisine – achaars – and this eventually ended up becoming a booming local business. With Hyderabadi recipes passed down, it is the hand of the maker that adds the right amount of gusto in the achaar.
Tahir Kaleem, an achaar maker, is a well-known name in the culinary world. His television show has a huge viewership all over Pakistan. However, little do people know about the beginnings of his shop. His shop has more than 52 varieties of achaar and if any of it does not suit your taste buds, you can always ask him to customize it according to your taste buds. The hot favourite is the Hyderabadi Mix.
Since pickles have a longer shelf life, there are various varieties of pickles available in Hyderabad Colony. Therefore, the prices of the pickles vary according to their varieties. One can easily buy an 800-gram pickle for Rs80.
"For as long as I can remember, achaar has been an intrinsic part of our culture and the culinary sphere for almost 40 years now," said Kaleem, adding that the trick is to ensure the use of individual elements in the right proportion. From hand-picking the right raw materials, to carefully preparing the ingredients, from assembling the pickles to adding spices and then waiting for the pickle to be ready, it is a learnt skill to make the perfect pickle.
Pickles are a part of cuisines globally, and since centuries. According to the New York food museums’ pickle timeline, cucumbers were first pickled in the Tigris valley. However, achaar can be made of various vegetables i.e. lemon, chili and garlic. The salty-sour juice of the lemon makes the achaar tangy, and is believed to be great for digestion.
The journey of the achaar begins with the raw materials, mostly vegetables and spices. Asghar, a 28-years-old shopkeeper daily sets up a vegetable stall at one of the tapering roads in the Karimabad bazar. You can see him every day by the side of the road sprinkling water on his vegetables to keep them fresh. Before the sun sets westward, he goes to other local bazaars to sell the remaining ones. Many of his regular clients are achaar-makers. His fresh vegetables, after undergoing many processes, end up as delicious condiments.
Whereas achaar industries are concerned, the go-to market for industries to lay their hands on is the Karachi's Sabzi mandi. For both vendors and the industrial picklers, the Sabzi mandi, located off the main super-highway is the most reliable place to get their stocks, that too at a relatively lower price.
There are six major steps in the pickling process. Firstly, the raw material (fruits and vegetables) are brought from different parts of the country. Lemon, garlic, green chili, red chillies are the most commonly used vegetables in the making of achaar. After the raw picking of desired vegetables and fruits, the next step is washing and chopping these items.
Then the raw material is put into a mixing machine; at this stage different spices are mixed with the raw material. Subsequently the raw materials are stored in a brine tank where they can be preserved for up to 12 months. Considering the requirement of the buyer, the mixed raw material is extracted from the brine tank and is washed. After washing it is mixed in a mixing container with different spices. Later the processed pickles are packaged in different sizes of jars, bottles, and tins.
Pickles are generally set in four types of liquids - vinegar, citrus juice, brine or oil. Pickles manufactured in vinegar take almost fifteen days to be ready before consumption, while pickles manufactured in soybean oil take about a month before being edible. The presence of these preservatives makes the achaar highly acidic.
"In factories, raw materials are brined in huge brining tanks that consist of uniform quantities of vinegar and salt. The practice is performed under a specific room temperature – for salt and vinegar to react well with each other. However, the same process at home is done on rooftops, by placing air tight jars to rest under the sun," says Mubashir, a factory worker at Habib achaar factory in Manghopir.
Spices in achaars help in fuelling the flavour. The spices dominantly used in the making of achaar are red chili powder, dried red chili, salt, dhaniya (coriander), methi powder, zeera (cumin), laung (clove), haldi (turmeric), mustard seeds, peppercorns, saunf (fennel seeds), cinnamon sticks, and jaiphal (nutmeg).
Jodia Bazaar is a prominent market to shop for khula masalas (unpacked spices). The supply chain of the spice shops in Jodia bazaar traces back to from all over the country.
Mustafa is one of the dealers in Jodia Bazaar. He runs his father’s small shop in the market.
“We get our stocks from Hashmi Masala factory in Sakhi Hassan. Not in kilograms, but in metric tons, which is then shelved in our shop,” says Mustafa. “One of the advantages of purchasing spices in bulk is the relatively cheaper price that we get to negotiate.”
The manufacturing of achaar is also prevalent in many Pakistani households. It does not matter which part of the country you hail from; pickle has most likely been a part of your earliest food memories. Many still prefer homemade pickles because of the hygienic conditions guaranteed by small-scale manufacturers.
The distinctive feature of homemade achaar is its unique taste and high hygienic values in comparison to commercially made achaars
Ayesha, a 43-years-old woman runs a home-based pickle-manufacturing set-up and sells them from home, also supplying to a small shop in Essa Nagri. She says, "I have acquired the taste from my mother. She was a woman with flair for flavour and was armed with recipes that had been closely guarded in our family – passed down from one generation to another.”
An intriguing thing about the achaar-making process is that the chef of the achaar can not taste it while it is in the process. It is totally dependent on the proximation of the chef. This is understandably difficult because even the best of the chefs taste their food. But for this unique condiment you have to wait until its completion.
Once the achaar is ready, the essence of the achaar is stored in a small transparent bottle, which would only release its irresistible smell when unpacked.
One can find these plastic bottles from any wholesale market, retailer store, a mart or a crockery shop. The prices may vary according to the size and quality of plastic. A hard plastic bottle is relatively inexpensive as compared to the soft plastic bottles. In one of the crockery shops in Sakhi Hassan from where Ayesha shops, the prices of these plastic bottles vary from Rs60 per piece and goes up to Rs250 per piece.
