Relive Old Memories with this traditional Bihari preparation, also known by the name of Oal Barobar locally. Made with three key ingredients, Oal, Ginger and Green Chili – this Oal mixed pickle is a tangy, spicy & gingery delight for your tastebuds.
Ingredients used in JhaJi Store’s Oal Ginger Green Chili Mixed Pickle
Oal (Jimikand/ Suran), Crushed Green Chilli, Ginger, Lemon Juice, Amchoor, Mustard Oil, Mustard, Coriander Powder, Cumin, Carom Seed, Fenugreek, Fennel Seeds, Black Cumin Seeds. Nigella Seeds. Turmeric, Asafoetida, Black Salt, and Salt.
On Ingredients:
The first key step is selecting the right variety of ingredients for the pickle, specially the three vegetables, Oal, Ginger and Green Chilies.
We use Desi Oal varieties grown locally in Darbhanga. Oal, or Suran, or Jimikand, or elephant yam – grows below the soil. Even after harvesting Oal can be stored in your aagan, or bagicha for weeks.
It’s important to select the ginger that have thin skin. Otherwise, it takes too long for the ginger to soften up. And it overpowers the other flavours in the pickle. While choosing the green chili we make sure it’s a variety with less seeds inside. Mostly, we make this pickle using bullet/longia mirchi varieties as they are hot, with thin skin, and have few if any seeds.
Juice from the local jamiri lemons also is an essential ingredient in this pickle. Jamiri Lemons have a very distinct aroma, and has always been preferred over other varieties for adding tanginess in the pickle.
The spices are sourced locally from the Samastipur Mandi about 40 Kms from our kitchen-factory. Sorting, Cleaning, Roasting, and Grounding of spices is carried out in-house. Roasting & Grounding is done for most spices to enhance their flavours, aroma, and the texture of the pickle once ready.
The Pickling Process:
We follow the local processes of pickling passed onto Kalpana and Uma through their mothers, and mothers-in-law. All begins by cleaning the Oal, Ginger, and Green Chili in water, for 2-3 rounds. The tail of the green chili is removed.
Once thoroughly washed, they are left in the sun for a couple of hours. And then chopped into smaller pieces for grating. Traditionally, this pickle has been prepared by mixing all these 3 ingredients in equal quantities. That’s why the name Oal Barabar is also used to address this pickle here in Darbhanga and nearby. Note that there are no pieces of any of these 3 ingredients as they are all grated, कद्दूकश करे हुए तीनो ही।
We make 30 Kg batches at a time, by mixing equal quantities of कद्दूकश करे हुए oal, ginger, and green chili.
Once the three ingredients are added in the pickling vessel, salt, turmeric and lemon juice is added to marinate the mixture. It’s left untouched for 12-24 hours, as the moisture in the ingredients is drained and settles around it in the mixing vessel. Note that this moisture is extremely important for the final flavour and is not separated out.
After 24 hours, oil and spices are added as per the batch size in appropriate proportions.
And the mixture is ready for sun-drying to run into the final pickle. Oal pickle takes about 10 days of sun-light for the spices to mix well. Once ready, it’s stored in glass martabans to be used when customers order. 
We make this pickle mostly in the period October-December. This is the time of year when all the main ingredients are harvested and are available in abundance.
How we relish this pickle in Mithila:
Oal is a vegetable that’s relished a sabzi through many months, specially in winters. Naturally, the pickle is a also a household favourite, and is prepared by most families in Mithila.
We love oal ka achar with a variety of dishes, including dal chawal, paratha, poori or dahi choora. However, the most loved away to enjoy Oal pickle among our team-members is with simple roti. Even a plain roti tastes out of this world, with a little touch of our Oal, Ginger, and Green Chili pickle!
