
Sirkewalla Pyaz
A sharp, tangy Indian-style pickle of red onions softened in lemon juice and salt, finished with chilli, cumin and coriander. It is gently spicy and fresh-tasting.
Serving spices
2.4 gScattered over the onions just before serving (step 4)Everything else
Method
- Put 300 g red onion in a large bowl.
- Add 50 g lemon juice and 0.3 g salt and toss to coat.
- Leave for 2–3 hours at room temperature, or refrigerate overnight, until the onions soften and turn deep purple.
- Just before serving, scatter the serving spices over the onions.
- Add 1 g coriander leaf and mix well.
Don't have something?

Red onion

OnionUse the same weight; cook a little longer. Milder and less sweet when raw.
ShallotUse the same weight; sweeter and softer, so reduce cooking time slightly.
Spring onionUse only the white parts, weight for weight, for raw or quick-cooked dishes; green parts are too grassy for long cooking.

Lemon

LimeUse the same weight or juice amount; sharper, so taste before adding all the juice.
Lemon juiceUse about 45–50 ml for 1 lemon; add off the heat to keep the freshness.
Dried mango powderUse 1 tsp for the juice of 1 lemon; add early. Sourness is flatter and less fresh.

Kashmiri chilli powder

Dried kashmiri chilliGrind deseeded dried pods to an equal weight of powder; gives identical vivid red colour and gentle warmth.
Red chilli powderUse 25% of the weight mixed with sweet paprika for colour; straight red chilli powder is substantially hotter and will make the dish fiery.
Chilli powderUse one-third of the weight; the sauce will be less intensely red and notably sharper in heat.

Cumin seed

Ground cuminUse 70% of the weight; add with ground spices or sauce bases rather than hot oil tempering, where it scorches quickly and turns bitter.
Black cumin seedsUse equal weight for oil tempering. Delivers an earthy profile with an additional musky, smoky, and slightly bitter edge.
Fennel seedUse 60% of the weight for tempering; offers comparable warm aroma, but leans sweet and liquorice-like rather than savoury and earthy.
Similar dishes

- Same: Lacchewalle Pyaz shares a lemon-juice pickle base of red onion and Kashmiri chilli powder with this dish.
- Different: It uses chaat masala, black salt, sugar and 30 g coriander leaf instead of this dish's regular salt, cumin seed and 1 g coriander leaf, and it uses 200 g red onion to this dish's 300 g.

- Same: Awadh Imliwali Pyaz shares red onion, Kashmiri chilli powder, cumin seed and coriander with this dish, and both are tangy Indian onion condiments.
- Different: Awadh Imliwali Pyaz adds tomato, tamarind paste, caster sugar, vegetable oil, garlic, curry leaf, black peppercorn and dried red chilli and is a cooked tempered chutney, while this dish is a raw lemon-and-salt macerated onion pickle with no oil.

- Same: Pyaz ka Achar shares with this dish the use of onions, chilli powder, cumin seed and salt as a spiced onion pickle.
- Different: Pyaz ka Achar uses baby onions, malt vinegar, jaggery, garlic and garam masala, while this dish uses red onion, lemon juice and coriander leaf.

- Same: Bhindi Pyaz shares onion, cumin seed and salt with this dish.
- Different: Bhindi Pyaz adds okra, vegetable oil and green chilli and lacks this dish's lemon juice, Kashmiri chilli powder and coriander leaf; it is a cooked dry curry, not a lemon-softened pickle.















