achar (pickled vegetables)

"Achar" is a local word for pickled vegetables.

While many types of achar contain chilli paste, as I am not a chilli-eater, I prefer the type of achar that does not contain chilli. Having said this, there is a type of achar that I have tried that contains ground peanuts and is not very spicy although there is chilli paste in the achar (I am, by the way, looking for the recipe for this type of achar).

One of my favourite achar is served as a complimentary side dish at the chicken rice stall located at the food court in the basement of Katong Shopping Centre, which is near my mother's home. The achar comprises large chunks of cucumber, pineapple, red onion and green chilli with strips of carrot pickled with freshly squeezed lime juice and sugar (at least, this is what I have guessed based on what I have eaten. I doubt that the stall holder will share his "secret recipe" with me!).

My mother's eldest sister (Tuayi), my UT's wife (AH) and my UJ's wife (AJ) all have their own recipes for achar. AH did not make any achar for Chinese New Year this year but if I recall correctly, her version of achar is spicy because it contains chilli paste.

Tuayi's and AJ's respective versions of achar are quite similar (both versions do not contain chilli paste) and differ slightly in the ingredients that make up the achar.

Here is my version of achar that you may want to try. It is a modification of Tuayi's and AJ's versions of achar. I have not included the proportion for the vegetables because it is up to your preference. However, according to Tuayi, half of the achar should comprise the cucumber.

Ingredients

cucumber
pineapple
carrot
green chilli padi
green chilli
big red onion
big yellow onion
freshly squeezed lime juice (using small limes)
brown sugar
salt

Method

1. Quarter the cucumber and remove the centre portion. There is no necessity to remove the skin. Cut the cucumber into strips and sprinkle salt over the strips of cucumber. Set aside.

2. Remove the skin from the pineapple. Cut the pineapple into bite-sized pieces.

3. Remove the skin from the carrot. Halve the carrot into half and cut into strips.

4. Remove the seeds from the green chilli padi and the green chilli and cut into strips.

5. Remove the skin from the big red onion and big yellow onion and cut into strips.

6. Rinse the cucumber strips at least twice and drain away the water thoroughly. The cucumber is ready when it no longer tastes salty after rinsing.

7. Fill half of a large glass bottle with the cucumber. Fill the rest of the glass bottle with the pineapple, carrot, green chilli padi, green chilli, big red onion and big yellow onion. Add about 4 tbsp of brown sugar and the juice of 8 small limes and shake the bottle thoroughly.

8. Let the achar settle down. After a while, do a "taste test" and add more brown sugar and freshly squeezed lime juice to suit your taste.

9. Store the bottle of achar in the refrigerator.

Tips

1. To remove the "eye" of the pineapple, slice diagonally across the pineapple on each side of each "eye". This makes it easier to remove the eye and also creates grooves in the pineapple.

2. I would recommend that you buy Sarawak pineapple as it is sweeter.

3. It would be preferable to use normal cucumber instead of Japanese cucumbers or Thai baby cucumbers.

4. Choose carrots that are straight as they tend to be sweeter. Use the normal carrots instead of baby carrots.

5. Feel free to omit any of the vegetables that you do not like. I would, however, recommend that at the very least, you do not omit the cucumber, pineapple and green chilli.

6. The purpose of sprinkling the salt over the cucumber is to remove the water from the cucumber. It is important that the vegetables are dry when you are mixing the achar in the glass bottle otherwise the achar will be soggy.