Achari Masala Recipe (Indian Pickle Spice Mix)
Achari Masala is an Indian spice blend used to make pickles. You can also use it to make achar-flavored curries or snacks. Here is my easy recipe for making it at home.
If you enjoy homemade spice mixes, try these as well: Tikka Masala Spice Mix, Chai Ka Masala, Chaat Masala, Sambar Powder, and Kerala Style Garam Masala.
A Quick Look At This Achari Masala Recipe
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes (dry roasting)
Total Time: 20 minutes
Serves: Makes ~ 1 cup
Cuisine: North Indian
Course: Spice Blend / Pantry Staple
Diet: Vegetarian, Vegan
Skill Level: Beginner
Equipment: Heavy-Bottom Pan, Grinder, Airtight Jar
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Why You’ll Love This Family Favorite Recipe!
- Captures authentic achari (pickle-style) flavors using simple, everyday spices.
- Quick to make — ready in just 20 minutes with light dry roasting and grinding.
- Versatile — elevates curries, sabzis, marinades, kebabs, and snacks instantly.
- Homemade is better than store-bought — no additives, fresher aroma, cleaner ingredients, and you can control the heat, tang, and spice balance exactly to your taste.
- Naturally vegan and stays fresh for weeks when stored properly.
Table of Contents
About Achari Masala
Making achar (pickle) is a traditional Indian practice, and most households have family recipes for creating various types of pickles. To make Indian-style pickles, a spice blend known as Achari Masala is added to vegetables or other ingredients.
This spice mix is made using dry red chilies, a few seeds, and spice powders.
In this post, I am sharing my recipe to make this delicious spice mix. Use it to make Achari Chicken Curry, Achari Aloo, Achari Gobhi, Achari Turai, Achari Chole, or Achari Bhindi 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.
This masala can also be used to make various types of pickles, such as mango pickles and chili pickles.
This recipe makes approximately 1 cup of masala. You can easily scale up or down the recipe according to your requirements.
Ingredients
All the ingredients for this recipe are readily 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. If not, use any dry red chilies instead.
Whole Spices – You will need coriander seeds, nigella seeds (kalonji), fennel seeds (saunf), brown mustard seeds (sarson), fenugreek seeds (methi dana), and cumin seeds (jeera).
Others – You will also need salt, turmeric powder, asafetida (hing), and dry mango powder (amchoor).
How To Make Achari Masala Powder
Step 1: Add the following ingredients to a pan.
- 16-18 Kashmiri dry red chilies (stalks removed)
- 2 tablespoon coriander seeds (dhaniya)
- 1 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)
Step 2: Dry roast on medium-low heat until browned and fragrant (8-10 minutes), stirring continuously.
Step 3: Remove the pan from the heat and cool the ingredients completely.
Step 4: Add the roasted ingredients to a grinder or a food processor along with the following ingredients.
- 4 tablespoon salt
- 1 teaspoon turmeric powder
- 1 teaspoon asafetida (hing)
- 4 teaspoon dry mango powder (amchoor)
Step 5: Grind to make a slightly coarse powder.
Step 6: Store the achari masala in an airtight container at room temperature in a cool and dry place for up to 2 months. Use as required.
Pro Tips By Neha
The color of the achari masala depends on the variety of dry red chilies used to make it. I always use the best quality Kashmiri dry red chilies, which 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 not be as good.
Fenugreek seeds and nigella seeds add bitterness to this masala. So, keep their quantity to a minimum.
Grind the masala to a slightly coarse powder for optimal flavor and texture.
Other Spice Mix Recipes We Recommend
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Achari Masala Recipe
Ingredients
- 16-18 Kashmiri dry red chilies (stalks removed)
- 2 tablespoons coriander seeds (dhaniya)
- 1 teaspoon 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)
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 in a cool and dry place for up to 2 months. Use as required.
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.
The colour of this masala depends totally on the quality of chillis used. Do try to make it with only Kashmiri Chilli Next time.
I cannot have chillies at all is it ok if I skip and for red colour maybe add Paprika
Yes, sure.
Thanks for the recipe. It’s too good. This helped me prepare the “Achari Turai” recipe.
It’s a very versatile powder 🙂
It’s very nice i like it
Thanks
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.
Nice 🙂
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!
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
What is the alternative for onion seeds
There is no alternative but you can skip adding them.
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.
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.
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) 🙂
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.
hI
tHANK YOU FOR SHARING THESE BEAUTIFUL RECIPES- iTS LIKE MUSIC IN YOUR MOUTH THE DIFFERENT SPICE MAKING FOOD SO TASTY
I have tried the masala in stuffed parathas and they taste awesome.
Your recipe for masala is nice.
Can I use Kashmiri chilli powder instead of whole chillies. If yes, how much?
Sure, replace the whole chilies with 1/4 cup chili powder.