These Indian pickled onions make the perfect accompaniment to Indian meals and you can make them in 20 minutes or less!
Recipe Snapshot
- Prep time: 10 minutes
- Cook time: 5 minutes
- Total time: 15 minutes
- Yield: 6
- Category: Condiments
- Cuisine: Indian
Ingredients
- 250 grams pearl onions (around 20-25, use only red pearl onions)
- ½ cup water (4 oz/120 ml)
- 1 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
- 1 tablespoon sugar (or to taste)
- 1 inch cinnamon stick
- 2 whole cloves
- 3-4 whole black peppercorns
- ¼ medium beetroot (a small wedge, optional)
- ½ cup white vinegar
Method
- First peel all the pearl onions. This is the most time consuming step in the recipe. Then take each peeled onion and make a slit in it lengthwise using a paring knife without cutting it all the way through. Once done, transfer all the onions to a 8 oz mason jar.
- To a pan on medium heat on stove-top, add water with salt, sugar, cinnamon stick, cloves, peppercorn and beetroot (optional, this gives the onions deep pink color).
- Boil this mixture on medium heat for 3 to 4 minutes until the salt & sugar dissolves and the color of the water changed to red (because of the beetroot). Then remove the pan from the stove-top and let the mixture cool down for 10 minutes.
- After it has cooled down, add white vinegar to it and stir. Now, pour this pickling liquid into the mason jar with onions making sure onions are submerged in the mixture. Shake the jar.
- Refrigerate for 24 hours and then enjoy! These sirke wale pyaaz should stay good in the fridge for 3 to 4 weeks.
Kiyaan Singh’s Kitchen Note
Keep this recipe as a working base: cook once as written, then adjust spice, texture, and serving style for your own table.