Starfruit Pickle Recipe (Kamrak Ka Achar)
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Starfruit Pickle (Kamrak Ka Achar) is a unique Indian pickle recipe you need to try this summer! It is just like your green mango pickle, but with the goodness of starfruit. It is easy, addictive, and requires a few basic pantry ingredients.
As summer is the pickling season, you can try some more of my pickle recipes: Elumichai Oorugai, Kerala Style Instant Mango Pickle, Green Chilli Pickle, Stuffed Red Chilli Pickle, and Hing Ka Achar.
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Give your usual pickle a break, and try your hands on this spicy and tangy Starfruit Pickle (Kamrak Ka Achar). It just takes 10 minutes to come together and is cooked slowly in the strong sun for 3 to 4 days.
Also known as carambola or kamrakh pickle, it is a simple mixture of starfruit pieces, salt, seeds, spice powders, and mustard oil.
It is prepared just like my popular green mango pickle, but instead of green mango pieces, we are pickling sliced starfruits.
This pickle will last you for almost a year. Make a big jar and enjoy it throughout the year with your everyday meals.
The recipe is vegan and can be easily made gluten-free. You can easily double or triple it, too.
Ingredients
- Starfruit – Use fresh starfruits (kamrakh) to make this pickle.
- Pickling Spices – You will need regular pickling spices like fennel seeds (saunf), fenugreek seeds (methi dana), brown mustard seeds (sarson), asafetida (hing), and nigella seeds (kalonji).
- Spice Powders – To add a little color and spiciness, use everyday spice powders such as turmeric powder and Kashmiri red chili powder. You can adjust the amount of red chili powder to suit how spicy you want the pickle to be.
- Mustard Oil – Use only mustard oil for pickling. It adds a pungent taste that no other oil can, and also preserves the pickle. Make sure you heat the mustard oil well before adding it to the pickle; otherwise, it will give the pickle a raw taste that won’t be great.
Skip adding hing to make a gluten-free pickle.
Serving Suggestions
Starfruit pickle can be served on the side with your everyday meals of dal, sabzi, and phulka.
It also tastes great with a simple dal chawal, accompanied by a side of roasted papad. You can also serve it with stuffed parathas, tawa parathas, or poori.
Storage Suggestions
Once the pickle has been kept in the sun for 3 to 4 days, close the lid of the jar tightly and store it in a cool, dry place for up to a year.
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Starfruit Pickle Recipe (Kamrak Ka Achar)
Ingredients
- 250 grams starfruits (kamrak)
- 5 grams brown mustard seeds (sarson)
- 5 grams fennel seeds (saunf)
- 5 grams fenugreek seeds (methi dana)
- 1 gram nigella seeds (kalonji)
- ½ teaspoon asafetida (hing) (skip for gluten-free)
- 1 cup mustard oil
- 25 grams salt
- 5 grams turmeric powder
- 5 grams Kashmiri red chili powder
Instructions
- Wash the starfruits and wipe them well using a kitchen towel. Cut them into ¼ inch slices.
- Spread the slices on a kitchen towel and let them dry for 3-4 hours.
- Add mustard seeds, fennel seeds, fenugreek seeds, asafetida, and nigella seeds to a grinder and grind to make a coarse powder.
- Heat mustard oil in a pan over high heat until it starts to fume. Remove the oil from heat and let it cool completely.
- Mix the sliced starfruits, powdered spices, salt, turmeric powder, and Kashmiri red chili powder in a non-reactive bowl.
- Transfer the pickle to a clean glass jar and pour the cooled mustard oil on top.
- Cover the mouth of the jar with a muslin cloth or a loose lid and keep it in strong sun for 3-4 days. Close the jar with a tight fitting lid and store the pickle in a cool and dry place for upto a year.