Delicious Rhubarb Achar / South Indian Style Rhubarb Pickle goes well with bowl of rice or chapati. 
As a food blogger you are in a magical world of recipes, yes I too want to explore Rhubarb in my Kitchen. Whenever I see Rhubarb strawberry pie, crumb bars, cake and muffins my heart tell me go ahead and try something. Finally one day I spotted Rhubarb in my local Kroger store at price of almost gold, I decide to buy. My hubby who is not usually adventurous into unknown area was not happy. I told him I want to buy some. He agreed if I get only 2 stalks which I did and finally made Rhubarb Achar/ Indian style Rhubarb Pickle.
After a head spinning attempt to make a dessert with it I decided to make crumb bars but before pre-heating to oven I decided to wash and cut the Rhubarb. That is the wise thing I did. After cutting I tasted a slice. It has a tart taste and if I am combining with strawberries as I thought previously I need a good amount to sugar to make a dessert. Skipped that idea, then I decided to make the Indian style pickle. It is mainly spicy with background of slight sweetness from the jaggery I decide to make it. This is South Indian style made with gingerly oil, mustard seeds, fenugreek seeds asafetodia, salt, jaggery, red chili powder, green chili, curry leaves, garlic cloves and of course the star Rhubarb.
Indian friends I searched over the net whether Rhubarb is grown in India, I couldn’t find anything. If you find it in the market try to make this Achar.
If you are little spicy enthusiastic then you will love this recipe, it goes as spicy relish. It is good with bowl of rice, bread or chapathi you name it.
You may be thinking did I forget the idea of dessert with this No still lingering in my mind, I will make it next time I buy them.
Other Rhubarb Recipes are
Raspberry Rhubarb muffins
Rhubarb Achar / Indian Style Rhubarb Pickle
Ingredients
- 1 ¾ cup Rhubarb Chopped into ½ inch pieces from 2 stalks
- 4 cloves garlic
- 1 ½ teaspoon chili powder I used really hot one use paprika instead you want mild
- 1 green chili
- ½ teaspoon mustard seeds
- ¼ teaspoon fenugreek seeds
- ¼ cup gingerly oil Use your favorite oil
- 2 teaspoon jaggery use brown sugar
- ⅛ teaspoon asafoetida
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 spring curry leaves
- ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder
Instructions
- Heat 2 tablespoon oil in a pan and add mustard seeds when it starts popping add fenugreek seeds, curry leaves and asafoetida.
- To this add chopped Rhubarb, green chili garlic cloves, chili powder, turmeric powder, salt and jaggery and rest of oil
- Once Rhubarb is soft, then switch off the flame.
- Enjoy
Video
Nutrition
This is Swathi ( Dr. Ambujom Saraswathy Ph.D) from Zesty South Indian Kitchen who loves to explore cuisines from all over the world. Whenever possible I try to to give an Indian touch to several of the world cuisine, and has weakness for freshly baked bread. All the recipes you see here are created by me and approved after taste-test by my family.
Michele says
Rhubarb is actually a vegetable so well suited to savoury dishes. One of our favourites is rhubarb Dahl.
Maureen Dugan says
oh i have been looking for a rhubarb pickle or relish recipe and yours looks divine, i have grown up with rhubarb as a springtime compote or sauce or fruity jam with strawberry etc but would like to use it as a savoury addition, almost like a tapenade or an antipasto, wish me luck! have never cooked with fenugreek before
Sundari says
Wow! What a lip-smacking pickle! so tempting!
maren says
These sound great! Glad your husband let you take the plunge down the rhubarb trail. I like that you have used them in a savory dish here. Other than their red color they just never sounded like a desert food to me!
Rachel says
I'm looking forward to trying rhubarb for a savory dish. This rhubarb achar sounds delicious. Thanks for sharing!
Rachel says
I'm looking forward to trying rhubarb for a savory dish. I've only ever used it in a pie, but this sounds delicious. Thanks for sharing!
Molly Kumar says
This is such a delicious way of using Rhubarb. I love making achaar's at home and do have couple of rhubarb stalks in the fridge to try this soon 🙂
Whitney @WhittyPaleo says
I love spicy food so having this rhubarb pickle would be a wonderful addition! Thanks for the recipe!
Gloria @ Homemade & Yummy says
I have never had rhubarb in a savoury dish. This would be unique, and I can see me using it on a cheese platter. Would be perfect for entertaining.
Noel Lizotte says
I love Rhubarb!! This is a new way to fix it ... for me. I'm thinking this would be wonderfully crunchy and certainly tangy!
Jean | DelightfulRepast.com says
Swathi, savory rhubarb goes beautifully with meats. I don't know if you eat pork, but I can imagine having your lovely pickle with a sausage or slice of ham. Or with samosas. Or ... now you've got my imagination going! This recipe sounds wonderful (though I would have to skip the garlic - allergic). I made a rhubarb dessert this week and purposely made it with even less sugar than I listed in the recipe -- my husband and I like tart things.
Swathi says
I won't pork my hubby eat it. I need to check your Rhubarb crumble now.
Marlynn | UrbanBlissLife says
I've only had and seen sweet rhubarb recipes before so it really is a nice change to see a savory rhubarb recipe like this one!
Veena Azmanov says
I must admit I've never had rubarb achar before. So intrigued. Love the pickle masala so I know it's definitely going to taste awesome.
Joanna @ Everyday Made Fresh says
Being from the south, I had never heard of rhubarb until I met my husband. He was talking all about rhubarb pies from growing up (he grew up, up north). We actually had a local grocery store order some and he made a crumble with it. Loved it! I did taste it raw and didn't care for it at all. From all the stories I've heard of rhubarb, I've never seen it in savory recipes.
Swathi says
I too bought Rhubarb thinking of making a bar, Yes there are not much savory recipes. My hubby who is skeptical first loving this now. So I am going to make it whenever I can hold of Rhubarb
Catherine says
I've never had rhubarb in a savory setting like this but I love the idea and sound of this pickle. Sounds so good!
Swathi says
Thanks it is spicy, tangy, light sweetness in the background.
Daria says
Never heard of rhubarb pickle before. At first glance, I thought it was a bell pepper jam or something. 😛
Anyway, kudos on a great post and thanks for sharing your recipe! ^_^
Swathi says
I too making it for first time.
Gisella says
Never heard of rhubarb pickle before. At first glance, I thought it was a bell pepper jam or something. 😛
Anyway, kudos on a great post and thanks for sharing your recipe! ^_^
Swathi says
Thanks I too made it for first time.