These Tiruchi entrepreneurs capture the heat and spice of summer in a pickle jar

The art of traditional Indian pickles from artisanal makers in Tiruchi makes meals tastier during summer.

As the searing summer becomes the new normal, one old friend promises to make mealtimes tastier — the traditional Indian pickle.

Pickling was a way to preserve food and seasonal produce, especially in nomadic or trader communities. Today, they have assumed the role of pick-me-ups, spicy companions that elevate the taste of the humblest of dal and chapati or curd and rice combinations all through the year.

We meet some of Tiruchi’s artisanal pickle makers, whose products are wooing a new generation of consumers.

Staying slow and steady has helped Srirangam-based V Vaidyanathan and his wife Revathi make the family-run enterprise Vembu Iyer Pickles score high with their customers, enticing them with a spoonful of nostalgia in each of their preparations.

“Customers say that our condiments remind them of their grandmothers’ cooking, from the days when summers used to be a time to make pickles and ‘vadagams’ in the hot sun,” says Revathi.

The pickle business was the brainchild of Vaidyanathan’s father Vembu Iyer, a Municipal officer in Tiruchi Corporation, who liked to gift the lime and kidarangai (wild lemon) pickles made by his wife Tirupurasundari, to his colleagues and friends.

“After retirement, appa realised that these pickles were good enough to sell, especially when friends started placing orders in large quantities,” says Vaidyanathan. “My parents began with just lime and kidarangai pickles, and 35 years later, we have diversified to over 15 items including mango ginger, maavadu (baby mango) and mint thokku, among others,” he says. Most of the pickles are priced in the range of ₹140.