Red Chili Pickle is a tangy & spicy accompaniment. There’s oil, Indian ground spice, fresh red chillies & jaggery in it. A typical Indian pickle is made using jaggery instead of sugar.


Indian pickle is not limited to just red chillies. You have mango pickles, garlic pickles, carrot pickles, gumberry pickles, green chilli pickles & a lot more variety.

In short, pickles are the lifeline of an Indian menu. On top of it, Indian households make pickles two ways. Let me tell you about that.

2 Types of Pickles

The first one is the instant pickle—no concept of storing it. You gather the ingredients. Mix them, roast, saute & eat. Above all, there’s no leftover even.

The second one is storable for a long time. Sometimes these kinds of pickles even last more than a year. Items used in these pickles are more or less similar to instant pickles. The only difference is the oil quantity & natural preservatives.

Storage requirements need special attention. Glass containers or porcelain pots are ideal for storing pickles. There’s a lot more to talk about pickles & I can go on & on. Let’s get back to the recipe.

Today am sharing with you the red chilli pickle recipe. The method is traditional Indian Style. Moreover, the ground spices used here are all regular ones. Each one of them is readily available in your kitchen.

First, we will gather the items. Let’s get started.

Items We’ll Add To Red Chilli Pickle

I have already said this before. The items are easy to manage. Trust me, but you won’t have a rundown of ingredients. Instead, take a look at what things will be going into your red chilli pickle.

Red Chilies

Fresh red chillies are tempting & the natural colour is awesomely vibrant. Remove the seeds, slit chillies vertically & cut them in half. The chilli here is our base ingredient.

Herbs & Spices

To prepare the tadka, you will need black pepper, asafoetida, Kasuri methi, mustard seeds, fenugreek seeds, red chilli powder, Kashmiri red chilli powder & salt. Mix everything & saute them in cooking oil.

We will use Kasuri methi for flavour & aroma. Moreover, for the red colour, we will be using Kashmiri Lal Mirch powder.

Dry Dates

Dry dates aka सूखे खजूर or say ખારેક may be a surprise ingredient. However, dry dates are regularly used in dry Indian pickles. When you leave dry dates to soak in cooking oil with other items, it releases their flavour over time. The dates become chewy, tangy & spicy. Dry dates with red chilli is a mouth-watering combo. Try it.

Lemon Juice

Lemon juice acts as a natural preservative if you gonna store this pickle. Additionally, the khatta-meetha combination of lemon juice & jaggery will tickle your taste buds. Go for it. You can substitute this with vinegar as well but lemon juice is more preferable.

Jaggery in Red Chili Pickle

Ahh! I love jaggery more than sugar.

It’s healthy & keeps digestion on track. In the Saurashtra region of Gujarat, there’s a tradition of eating jaggery after lunch & dinner. It helps digest food better than anything. Our red chilli pickle is loaded with the natural sweetness of jaggery. I bet you will love this.

Now that you know what’s needed, let’s start making one.

Making the Tangy Red Chili Pickle

The cooking process is easy-peasy. Start with tempering all the herbs & spices. Then, make sure they don’t burn. Therefore keep your flame medium-high.

Once the tadka is ready, add red chilli & jaggery. Allow the jaggery to melt. What will happen is the liquid jaggery will mix & match all items together. This way, our herbs & spices will have enough room to release their unique flavours.

When your jaggery melts completely, simmer the mixture for a couple of minutes. Ta-daaaah! Your red chilli pickle is ready. Allow it to cool down. Store in glass or porcelain containers.

So, that was it with the red chilli pickle recipe today.