How to cure pickles with salt?

In the olden days, salt was added to cure the the item to pickled (exemplar) under hot-sun for 4 to 7 days.

What does salt do?

Salt adds flavor, draws moisture from the exemplar, and retards microbial growth. Salt cures the exemplar. As the limes are cured, the skin starts to turn brown and softer yet firm in about 7 days. If too much salt is added, it breaks down the pectin and the skin may become mushy.

The salt removes the water from the exemplar due to osmosis, some sugar is also removed. Eventually, salt-tolerant micro-organisms start to grow. These bacteria produce acid and add flavor associated with pickles.

The question always comes up what to do after the salt has drawn the moisture. The moisture has the fruit and vegetable flavors and sometime very unique tastes. You have a choice to discard or keep the water.

For most of the traditional lime and mango pickle, the exemplars are just dried out to remove moisture. In case of Chundo Mangoes Grated Sweet Chundo Pickle extra effort is made to squeeze out the water before drying.

Its a hard choice for Karela pickle. Many people remove the moisture, dry the Karela chip and then fry them. This discards the unique bitter Karela flavor. I fry the Karela chips along with salt and drawn moisture (Karela Achar Achaar (Bitter Gourd Pickle)). It is little tricky but worth while. I follow the same process for Turnips (Shalgam Achar Achaar (Turnip Pickle)).

In case of sea-foods, the exemplar is cured in salt and some spices, the moisture is blotted out by paper towel and then the exemplar are fried .Fish Achar Achaar (Fish Pickle),

Prawn Pickle

In summary, salt draws moisture, moisture must be removed via drying or frying the exemplar

What type of salt is used?

In India, a mix of sea-salt and Kala Namak is used.

Do NOT use Table-salt. The Table-salt has added chemicals to prevent caking. These chemicals will discolor the exemplar and make the pickle look muddy.

In United States, you can buy Pickling-salt in the stores.

How much Salt is needed?

The amount of salt depends on amount of protein fats and acid in the exemplar. For lime and mango pickles, you need 10% to 12% of salt by weight of the exemplar.

For two pounds of exemplar, you need 3.2 ounce to 3.84 ounce. One ounce of salt is approximately 5 teaspoons. So you need 16 teaspoons to 19.2 teaspoons.

I use a combination 5 Tablespoon of pickling salt, and One Tablespoon of Kala Namak. I use total 6 Tablespoons of salt for 2 pounds of exemplar.

Excessive salt will breakdown pectin the the exemplar.

Meats are all protein and need the lowest amount of salt.

How long to cure in salt?

Time to cure varies based on exemplar to efficiently draw out the moisture. Time to cure varies on the exempla based on acid level and protein.

- Limes are cured in salt for 6 days

- Mangoes are cured in salt for 6 days

- Karela (Bitter gourd) are cured in salt for 4 hours

- Shalgam (Turnip) are cured in salt for 8 to 12 hours

- Seafood (Fish Prawns) are cured in Salt and Turmeric for 2 hours. Turmeric and ground chili powder is added is for cosmetics