Sirke Wale Pyaaz (Indian Pickled Onions)

5 from 2 votes

These Indian pickled onions make the perfect accompaniment to Indian meals and you can make them in 20 minutes or less!

Prep Time10

Cook Time5

Resting Time1

Total Time15

Course: Condiments

Cuisine: Indian

Diet: Vegan

Servings:

First peel all the pearl onions. This is the most time consuming step in the recipe. Then take each peeled onion and make a slit in it lengthwise using a paring knife without cutting it all the way through. Once done, transfer all the onions to a 8 oz mason jar.
To a pan on medium heat on stove-top, add water with salt, sugar, cinnamon stick, cloves, peppercorn and beetroot (optional, this gives the onions deep pink color).
Boil this mixture on medium heat for 3 to 4 minutes until the salt & sugar dissolves and the color of the water changed to red (because of the beetroot). Then remove the pan from the stove-top and let the mixture cool down for 10 minutes.
After it has cooled down, add white vinegar to it and stir. Now, pour this pickling liquid into the mason jar with onions making sure onions are submerged in the mixture. Shake the jar.
Refrigerate for 24 hours and then enjoy! These sirke wale pyaaz should stay good in the fridge for 3 to 4 weeks.

Using beetroot is optional, it's mainly for the deep pink color.
Other than the spices mentioned in the recipe, you can also add some fresh ginger to flavor the pickling solution.
You can use regular onion for this recipe, make sure to use a mandoline slicer to slice it thin and then use in the recipe.
You can skip the sugar in this recipe, I like adding some sugar to balance the flavors but if you want to make this sugar free, skip it.