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Achari Masala (Indian Pickle Spice Mix)

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Achari Masala is an Indian spice mix that is used to make pickles. You can also use it to make achar flavored curries or snacks (vegan).

Achari masala served in a bowl.
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About Achari Masala

Achar or pickle has been an Indian tradition and most households have a family recipe to make different varieties of pickles. To make Indian-style pickles, a spice blend is added to vegetables or other ingredients, and this spice mix is called Achari Masala.

Apart from using this spice mix to make pickles, you can add it to curries and snacks to give them a tangy, slightly bitter, and spicy pickle-like flavor.

The best Achari Masala is made at home. Homemade masala is made using high-quality ingredients and is free of any chemical color or preservatives.

Use it to make Achari Chicken, Achari Aloo, Achari Paneer, Achari Gobhi, Achari Paneer Tikka, Achari Turai, Achari Chole, or Achari Bhindi.

This recipe makes approximately 1 cup of masala. You can easily scale up or down the recipe.

If you like homemade spices mixes, then do try these as well

Ingredients

Achari masala ingredients.

All the ingredients to make this recipe are available in Indian grocery stores. Check the one that is nearest to you.

Dry Red Chilies – Try to use Kashmiri red chilies as they give a lovely color to this masala without making it too spicy.

Whole Spices – You will need coriander seeds, nigella seeds (kalonji), fennel seeds (saunf), brown mustard seeds (sarson), fenugreek seeds (meth danai), and cumin seeds (jeera).

Others – You will also need salt, turmeric powder, asafetida (hing), and dry mango powder (amchoor).

How To Make Achari Masala

Add

  • 16-18 Kashmiri dry red chilies (stalks removed)
  • 2 tablespoon coriander seeds (dhaniya)
  • 2 teaspoon nigella seeds (kalonji)
  • 6 tablespoon fennel seeds (saunf)
  • 4 tablespoon brown mustard seeds (sarson)
  • 1 teaspoon fenugreek seeds(methi dana)
  • 6 tablespoon cumin seeds (jeera)

to a pan, and dry roast on medium-low heat until browned and fragrant (8-10 minutes), stirring continuously.

Dry red chilies, coriander seeds, nigella seeds, fennel seeds, mustard seeds, fenugreek seeds and cumin seeds added to a pan.

Remove the pan from the heat and cool the ingredients completely.

Roasted spices.

Add the roasted ingredients to a grinder or a food processor along with 4 tablespoon salt, 1 teaspoon turmeric powder, 1 teaspoon asafetida (hing), and 4 teaspoon dry mango powder (amchoor).

Roasted ingredients aded to a grinder along with salt, turmeric powder, asafetida and dry mango powder.

Grind to make a slightly coarse powder. Store the achari masala in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 months. Use as required.

Ready achari masala in a grinder.

Pro Tips By Neha

The color of the masala depends on the variety of dry red chilies used to make it. I always use the best quality Kashmiri dry red chilies as they give it a lovely bright color.

Roast the spices on medium-low heat to release the flavors. Roasting them on high heat will burn them and the taste of the spice mix will be not as good.

Fenugreek seeds and nigella seeds add bitterness to this masala. So keep their quantity to a minimum.

Grind the masala to a coarse powder and not very smooth for the best flavors.

This recipe can be easily halved, doubled, or tripled.

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Achari Masala is an Indian spice mix that is used to make pickles. You can also use it to make achar flavored curries or snacks. Here is how to make it.

Achari Masala Recipe (Indian Pickle Spice Mix)

Achari Masala is an Indian spice mix that is used to make pickles. You can also use it to make achar flavored curries or snacks. Here is how to make it.
4.77 from 17 votes
Print Pin Rate
Course: Basics
Cuisine: Indian
Diet: Vegan, Vegetarian
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 20 minutes
Servings: 20 servings
Calories: 45kcal
Author: Neha Mathur

Ingredients 

  • 16-18 Kashmiri dry red chilies (stalks removed)
  • 2 tablespoons coriander seeds (dhaniya)
  • 2 teaspoons nigella seeds (kalonji)
  • 6 tablespoons fennel seeds (saunf)
  • 4 tablespoons brown mustard seeds( sarson)
  • 1 teaspoon fenugreek seeds (methi)
  • 6 tablespoons cumin seeds (jeera)
  • 4 tablespoons salt
  • 1 teaspoon turmeric powder
  • 1 teaspoon asafetida (hing)
  • 4 teaspoons dry mango powder (amchoor)
US Customary or Metric

Instructions

  • Add Kashmiri dry red chilies, coriander seeds, nigella seeds, fennel seeds, mustard seeds, fenugreek seeds, cumin seeds to a pan, and dry roast on medium-low heat until browned and fragrant (8-10 minutes), stirring continuously.
  • Remove the pan from the heat and cool the ingredients completely.
  • Add the roasted ingredients to a grinder or a food processor along with salt, turmeric powder, asafetida, and dry mango powder.
  • Grind to make a slightly coarse powder. Store the achari masala in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 months. Use as required.

Notes

The color of the masala depends on the variety of dry red chilies used to make it. I always use the best quality Kashmiri dry red chilies as they give it a lovely bright color.
Roast the spices on medium-low heat to release the flavors. Roasting them on high heat will burn them and the taste of the spice mix will be not as good.
Fenugreek seeds and nigella seeds add bitterness to this masala. So keep their quantity to a minimum.
Grind the masala to a coarse powder and not very smooth for the best flavors.
This recipe can be easily halved, doubled, or tripled.

Nutrition

Calories: 45kcal | Carbohydrates: 7g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 1g | Sodium: 1404mg | Potassium: 217mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 365IU | Vitamin C: 52.7mg | Calcium: 56mg | Iron: 2.6mg
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    Recipe Rating





  1. Vidya Chandrahas

    Masala looks very flavorful .
    First time here.happily following you…follow me back Neha.

    Reply

  2. duru jassal

    love the flavour, sometimes i use the masala from the pickle to season my dal n veggies and also add to chicken, paneer…..almost anything, thanks, will make this too.

    Reply

  3. amita sharma

    I have tried the masala in stuffed parathas and they taste awesome.
    Your recipe for masala is nice.

    Reply

    • Julie Thomas

      Can I use Kashmiri chilli powder instead of whole chillies. If yes, how much?

      Reply

      • Neha Mathur

        Sure, replace the whole chilies with 1/4 cup chili powder.

        Reply

  4. Lallie Pillay

    5 stars
    hI

    tHANK YOU FOR SHARING THESE BEAUTIFUL RECIPES- iTS LIKE MUSIC IN YOUR MOUTH THE DIFFERENT SPICE MAKING FOOD SO TASTY

    Reply

  5. Reddappa

    5 stars
    Hi Neha,

    Thanks for the wonderful recipe, I am very much inspired by your recipes and I proudly say this is my 1st recipe of my cooking life.
    I have a doubt , Mine didnot turned red in colour, is it maybe because of less red chillies added? I added everything as mentioned in the ingredients list.

    Thanks in advance for your reply.

    Reply

    • Neha Mathur

      Hi, Thnx for your kind words. The colour of this masala comes from the variety of dried red chilli used. I have used very good quality Kashmiri Red Chilies for this one. If your colour is still not red, you can try adding some powdered Kashmiri mirch powder to your masala and skip the dried chillies.

      Reply

      • Reddappa Reddy

        Thanks Nehaji, for my next batch I will try to add Kashmiri mirch powder as you explained to get this texture. (The texture from your recipe is mouth watering , So i want to achieve the same colour) 🙂

        Reply

        • Neha Mathur

          I am sure you will get it. I have also updated the recipe with ore details. Please do let me know if you want me to add anything else.

          Reply

  6. Bobo31

    5 stars
    Your blog is amazing I have made so many of your recipes and they are always crowd pleasers. Thank you so much for sharing. Please don’t stop.

    Reply

    • Neha Mathur

      Thnx a lot for trying out the recipes 🙂

      Reply

  7. Naseema

    5 stars
    What is the alternative for onion seeds

    Reply

    • Neha Mathur

      There is no alternative but you can skip adding them.

      Reply

  8. Pradipto

    I was totally unaware that such a thing as a pickle spice existed. While surfing the net I stumbled upon ‘achari alu’ which contained achar masala as one of its ingredients. My search for home made pickle spice recipe brought me to your blog. I will try this out for sure. Is onion seed a rare item?

    Reply

    • Neha Mathur

      Sure. Do try. Onion seed is kalonji.

      Reply

  9. Divya

    Hi Neha, somehow my masala turned out bitter. I am not sure why, maybe it got a little more roasted. Please suggest on how I can remove the bitterness.

    Thank you!

    Reply

    • Neha Mathur

      Hi Divya, it’s very unfortunate to hear this. I hope you followed the measurements correctly. If fenugreek seeds, onion seeds and mustard seeds are added in excess, the masala can become bitter. Do try to stick to the given measurements when you make it next and let me know if it works. Thnx

      Reply

  10. Blue Sparrow

    Hi What is the Hindi term for fennel seeds?

    Reply

    • Neha Mathur

      It’s Saunf.

      Reply

  11. Priyanka

    Thank you for your recipie. Made the masala yesterday for chicken. It is very tasty. Putting some in a jar to gift to a friend, who is moving.

    Reply

    • Neha Mathur

      Nice 🙂

      Reply

  12. Pratham

    5 stars
    It’s very nice i like it

    Reply

    • Neha Mathur

      Thanks

      Reply

  13. Ramakrishna

    5 stars
    Thanks for the recipe. It’s too good. This helped me prepare the “Achari Turai” recipe.

    Reply

    • Neha Mathur

      It’s a very versatile powder 🙂

      Reply

  14. Farida Rajabali

    I cannot have chillies at all is it ok if I skip and for red colour maybe add Paprika

    Reply

    • Neha Mathur

      Yes, sure.

      Reply

  15. Ronak

    Hey Neha,

    Thanks for this recipe. I made it and it tastes amazing. However, the colour isn’t as red as yours. I didn’t have whole Kashmiri red chillies, so used the Andhra variety. But I added almost 6 tsp of Kashmiri chilli powder, and it’s still very green in colour. I’d have to add maybe 20 tsp of Kashmiri chilli powder for the red colour.
    Are the measurements for cumin, fennel and coriander seeds in tbsp or tsp? I feel if it were tsp, then I’d get the red colour.

    Reply

    • Neha Mathur

      The colour of this masala depends totally on the quality of chillis used. Do try to make it with only Kashmiri Chilli Next time.

      Reply

      • Ronak

        Thanks for your reply.
        This may sound weird, but my masala has gotten redder over the last 2 weeks, totally did not anticipate that 😅

        Reply

        • Neha Mathur

          Nice 🙂

          Reply

  16. Century Foods

    5 stars
    Hi there! just found your article when I was looking for making Achari masala recipe.
    Thanks for sharing very well written and worth reading this article.
    wish to see more in the coming days.

    Reply

    • Deepa Kulkarni

      5 stars
      Awesome recipe I wil definitely try thank you so much 💕

      Reply