Carrot pickle recipe | Gajar ka achar
By Swasthi on August 10, 2022, Comments, Jump to Recipe
Carrot pickle recipe or gajar ka achar – an instant Andhra style pickle that can be made under 10 minutes. In most Andhra homes, a typical meal always consists of a hot pickle to go with rice and dal. We make pickles with many kinds of veggies like Carrot, cabbage, beetroot, Cauliflower, tomato, drumstick and even with leafy greens like gongura.

There are so many ways a pickle is made and this carrot pickle is made similar to the avakaya, a popular andhra pickle variety made with raw mangoes. This is not a traditional Andhra recipe, but roughly adapted from the mango pickle i shared before.
The pickle tastes hot, spicy and slightly tangy that comes from the lemon juice. This pickle stays good for about 4 to 7 days if refrigerated and handled with moist free hands. It goes good with plain rice, paratha or dal khichdi. Eating pickles in moderation helps to boost the appetite, so i serve this to the kids as well.
I made this pickle sometime back when I made dal khichdi and Lassi. I had no stock of the regular pickle to go with it. I had few carrots, so made this quick instant pickle.
All the ingredients used to make this pickle can be increased or decreased to suit your taste. The recipe can be doubled as well, just keep an eye on the salt you use.
I have used ginger in this carrot pickle, it can be replaced with garlic if you like. Ginger goes good in this pickle and is good to have during the cold days.
How to make carrot pickle recipe
1. Wash and peel carrot. Dry it completely, wipe off with a clean kitchen tissue or cloth, just to keep it free from moisture. Chop to tiny cubes, set aside. Do the same with garlic or ginger.
Heat a pan and lightly roast methi seeds until they turn fragrant. Transfer to a plate. Switch off the stove.
To the same pan, add mustard seeds and stir until they turn warm. Do not fry them. Cool them and powder together. If you have mustard and methi powder already, you can skip this.
2. Heat oil in a pan.

3. Make sure the oil is hot first, add ginger or garlic and carrots. Off the stove. We are not cooking further. Toss the carrots and ginger in this hot oil. This step is only to increase the shelf life otherwise the pickle may go bad with in 20 to 24 hours.

4. Add salt, turmeric, chili powder, mustard and methi powder. I had methi and mustard powder done separately, so i used it. To have more gravy in the pickle, double the quantity of red chili powder, methi seeds powder, mustard powder. Add salt and oil only as needed.

5. Mix up everything well. Check the spice and salt. When you taste you must get the salt, hot and pungent taste from the pickle. Adjust as needed.
Watch the quantity of methi powder, adding a lot can make the pickle taste bitter. Cool completely then add lemon juice for the tang. You can also add a bit of amchur if you do not have lemon juice. But the flavor would change. If the pickle looks dry, add more oil.

Store carrot pickle in a clean air tight glass or ceramic jar. Avoid plastic containers including tupperware. Day by day the pickle turns dry since there would be no moisture released by carrots. So may need to add oil as needed just before serving.

For more Pickle recipes, check
Instant mango pickle
Mango avakaya
Tomato pickle
Andhra Style carrot pickle recipe

Carrot pickle recipe | Gajar ka achar
For best results follow the step-by-step photos above the recipe card
Ingredients (US cup = 240ml )
- ½ cup carrots or gajar, tiny cubes
- salt as needed
- 3 tbsp oil (adjust)
- 2 tbsp ginger or garlic finely chopped
- 1/8 tsp turmeric or haldi
- ¼ tsp methi seeds (2 generous pinches powder)
- 2 tsp mustard seeds or 1 tsp mustard powder (refer notes)
- 2 tsp red chili powder (adjust as needed)
- ¾ tbsp lemon juice (adjust)
Instructions
Preparation
- Dry roast methi seeds on a low heat until aromatic,
- As soon as they begin to change to dark color switch off the stove and add mustard.
- Cool them and powder.
- Rinse carrots & ginger thoroughly and peel them. Air dry or wipe dry to reduce excess moisture.
- Chop them to tiny cubes and set aside.
- Next chop ginger and garlic as well.
Ho to make carrot pickle
- Pour oil to a pan and heat it.
- When the oil turns hot add chopped carrots, ginger and toss. Off the stove.
- Add the rest of the ingredients except lemon juice and mix well.
- Cool it and then add lemon juice.
- Store carrot pickle in a clean, dry airtight glass jar. Refrigerate and use.
Notes
Alternative quantities provided in the recipe card are for 1x only, original recipe.
For best results follow my detailed step-by-step photo instructions and tips above the recipe card.
NUTRITION INFO (estimation only)
© Swasthi’s Recipes


About Swasthi
I’m Swasthi Shreekanth, the recipe developer, food photographer & food writer behind Swasthi’s Recipes. My aim is to help you cook great Indian food with my time-tested recipes. After 2 decades of experience in practical Indian cooking I started this blog to help people cook better & more often at home. Whether you are a novice or an experienced cook I am sure Swasthi’s Recipes will assist you to enhance your cooking skills.
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Hello Swathi, i adore your site and your recipes, they are always SPOT ON in flavour. I appreciate all your efforts and hard work which benefit us and i pray success for u always. Thank you so much!
Hi Sultana,
Thank you so much for the wishes.
🙂
I like this recipe, quick and easy with less spices. I would like to ask if i could add warm lemon juice to the pickle for longer use? Secondly what is the alternate for lemon juice…?
Hi,
I haven’t tried with warm lemon juice. You may try with vinegar if you like the flavor.
In any case I am not sure if the pickle will keep good for longer.
Hi, do you use black mustard seeds?
Hi Rita,
Yes black mustard seeds. If you don’t have you may use even yellow seeds
Also one more question can I dehydrate carrots in oven if heating olive oil is not a good option.
I am from Andhra and stay in Europe currently. I like all your reciepes and tried at home too.
Regarding this carrot pickle, can I use olive oil for increasing shelf life of carrots?
Also how can I increase the shelf life to 15 days or 1 month?
How long it takes the fermentation to began?
Hi Srisatya,
Glad to know you! Thank you! I am not sure if olive oil goes well in this. Yes you can dehydrate the carrots and use. Keep the lemon juice in sun for few hours. Or in the oven for a while just until warm. If you dehydrate and use the carrots, it should keep good for 1 month. It begins to ferment after 4 to 5 days. Hope this helps!
I tried this today and it came out very well.. Thanks for the wonderful recipe
Welcome Arpitha
Awesome pickle.. Came out very well.. Thanks for the wonderful recipes
Thanks much Arpita
Glad you liked it.
🙂
I will try this soon
Very good I like spicy pickles
I’m a Indian food lover from Shri lanka.
Like to experience all recipes.
Mouth watering pickles .
Thanks..I’ll try one by one and make all happy.
Welcome Kameela
So Glad to know you. Thanks for the comment. Yes do try the recipes and keep sharing how they turned out.
🙂
Me recipes chala usefullga and andariki ardham ayyela unnay thank u to give such a great recipes to us
welcome harika
glad to know u like the recipes
Hi,
I’ve tried carrot pickle couple of days back, I had modified the recipe slightly(had just used raw carrots without putting them in the hot oil), it came out very well and already over :-). I wouldn’t have done this pickle if not for your blog.
-Suj
Hi Suj
Glad to know you made it good. I use hot oil only to increase the shelf life of the pickle.Thanks a lot for the feedback. Have a nice day