The sirke wala pyaaz is an easy to make Indian pickled onions recipe that uses just a few ingredients. Popularly served in Indian restaurants, here’s how to make pyaaz sirka at home easily.
Love that crunchy onion pickle that’s served in Indian restaurants? You know, the pinkish tinged onion rings that are just so sweet, and just so salty, and just so tangy and just so crunchy? We love it too! Much more than we love mango pickle or tomato pickle. But you don’t have to wait till you go to a restaurant to eat your favorite pickle. Here’s how to easily make the sirke wala pyaaz at home!
What ingredients do you need for pickling onions?
We make enough pickled onions to last a week at a time. So our quantities are a tad big. Cut them in half if you want to. Anyways, we use 4 medium-large onions cut in rings, 2 slit green chillies, 5 tbsp sugar, 3 tbsp salt, 200 ml vinegar and 300 ml water. If you don’t want to use red onions, use about 500 grams of white onions or shallots cut vertically in wedges.
How to make pickled onions the Indian way?
There’s no rocket science of how to pickle onions. It’s a simple age-old method that takes just a few minutes and results in some great tasting pickled red onions, and even some yummy quick-pickled white onions.
Simply cut the onions into rings, put them in a jar with the rest of the ingredients, and leave it be for 24 hours. That’s really it. There’s no need to heat the brine at all. We’ve seen quite a few recipes out there that require pre-heating a solution of salt and sugar, or adding beetroot for color, and what not. But we do it naturally. Yep, just throw stuff together and forget about it for 24 hours.
Also, you can use any vinegar, but we prefer to use apple cider vinegar since it’s a tad healthier.
After 24 hours, take the onions out of the vinegar solution transfer to another container and refrigerate till you eat them. These onions will last for a week or so.
And don’t just throw away the vinegar solution. Reuse it! That’s what we do. Add one or 2 more tbsps more of vinegar to the solution, and dunk some new onions in there. We reuse the brine up to 3 times. You could use it a lot longer, but after a few times it starts to stink really bad because of the sulphurous acids that have been removed from the onions. So to save them noses, it’s time to discard the solution.
But that’s really it! Simple tart and crunchy pickled onions the way it’s served in Indian restaurants with delicious Indian food!
Cooking Tips and Alternatives
- If you don’t want red onions rings, use shallots aka white onions, and cut them into four quarters.
- For a healthier version, add half a teaspoon of the turmeric powder to the brining solution.
- Serve with rotis or rice and your favorite curries, be it butter beans curry, mutton paya curry, or mustard chicken.
Other Pickle Recipes You Might Like
- Indian Pickled Onions Recipe – Sirke Wala Pyaaz
- East Indian Mango Pickle Recipe
- Easy Boiled Egg Salad Recipe
- East Indian Tomato Kusondi Recipe
- Spicy Love Apple Pickle
- East Indian Bombil Pickle (Sukha Bomblache Lonche)
- East Indian Mango Chutney/ Aam Ka Murabba/ Chunda
- East Indian Raw Mango Kadmat Salad Recipe
You can print off the list of ingredients and instructions to follow for making this recipe via the recipe card below (for home use only).
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Indian Pickled Onions Recipe – Sirke Wala Pyaaz
Ingredients
- 4 Red Onions Medium Large (About 500 to 600 grams)
- 2 Green Chillies
- 5 tbsp Sugar
- 3 tbsp Salt
- 200 ml Vinegar
- 300 ml Water
Optional
- 0.5 tsp Turmeric Powder
Instructions
- Cut the onions into rings and slit the green chillies. (If using shallots, use about 500 grams and cut into 4 to 6 parts each.)
- Put onions in a jar with the sugar, salt, vinegar, and water. Optionally, for a healthier pickle, add some turmeric powder.
- Leave aside for 24 hours and then it is ready to serve.
Notes
- Chop the Onions horizontally to get the rings or the shallots vertically to get wedges.
- Slit the green chillies lengthwise.
- Add turmeric for a healthier version.
Wow! Didnt know you could make it without boiling. Saving this.