The Importance of pickle and sauce in Indian cooking

Pickles and sauces have been an integral accompaniment of the Indian cuisine since ancient times. Their presence in the daily food of both the rich and the poor has been ensured because theylend taste, flavour and variety to the Indian palate. Everest Foods provides you some interesting insights into the importance of pickles and sauces in Indian cooking.

It should be noted that almost all the ingredients which make pickle and sauce have health and medicinal values.While fruits and vegetables are the base products for making pickles, other accompaniments include oils, salts, spices and herbs, which have invaluable medicinal properties.

Some of these additives include salt- white and black/brown-sendhanamak or gypsum salt- fenugreek seeds/methi, fennel seeds/saunf, mustard seeds/sarson, nigella seeds/kalonji, vinegar, turmeric powder, chilli powder, asafoetida, garlic, sesame oil, refined groundnut oil and   mustard oil, to mention only a few.

The most popular fruits and vegetables used for making pickles include raw mangoes, lemons, green chillies, carrots, gooseberry and several others depending upon the region and season.

Similarly sauces too are made with vegetables, salts, spices and herbs. The most popular vegetable for sauce especially in India is tomato. Sauce also adds taste, colour, flavour, zing and variety to the food.

Sauce is also used as marinate before cooking veggies and especially a variety of meats. Often meal is not considered complete without sauce.  Sauce is known to add visual appeal to the food. It said that we first eat the meals with our eyes. The very sight of pickle and sauce whets our appetite for food.