Pickles & Condiments
Lapsi ko Achar (Hog Plum Pickle)
लप्सीको अचार
Lapsi, the Nepali hog plum, is fiercely sour and grows abundantly around the Kathmandu Valley, and this pickle is its finest use — the boiled fruit pulped and cooked down with mustard oil, fenugreek, chilli and a little sugar into a thick sweet-sour-hot preserve. The same fruit is also dried into the sticky candy strips called titaura that Nepali children grow up on. A jar of lapsi achar is a standard gift from relatives with a tree in the yard.
- Prep
- 15 min
- Cook
- 35 min
- Total
- 50 min
- Serves
- 12
- Difficulty
- Medium
At the stove
Method
Boil the whole lapsi in water for 15 to 20 minutes until the skins split and the flesh turns soft.
Drain and cool, then peel away the skins and squeeze the pulp off the large central stones. Discard the stones and keep the pulp.
Heat the mustard oil in a heavy pan until it just smokes, then lower the heat and add the fenugreek seeds; let them turn dark brown but not black.
Add the crushed garlic and fry for 30 seconds, then stir in the turmeric, chilli powder, ground mustard, cumin and timur.
Tip in the lapsi pulp along with the sugar and salt and stir well to coat everything in the spiced oil.
Cook on low heat for 10 to 15 minutes, stirring often, until the mixture thickens, darkens and starts leaving the sides of the pan.
Taste and balance — it should hit sour first, then sweet, then heat. Adjust sugar, salt or chilli accordingly.
Cool completely and pack into a sterilised jar with a thin film of oil on top. It keeps for several months refrigerated.
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