Sirke Wala Pyaaz or Pickled Onions is super easy and quick recipe using just 4 ingredients for making this delicious condiment that is very popularly seen in Indian restaurants.
A complimentary condiment platter of pickle (achar), lemon wedges and some pickled onions is a common sight in most Indian restaurants. We as kids called them pink onions.
Making these pickled onions at home is even more delicious, easy and quick. I tend to make these very often especially on days when we have Dal on the menu.
The recipe I am sharing today is more of quick pickled onions i.e. instant kind that you can make 30mins to overnight ahead of your meal.
Ingredients:
Onions - I've used small red onion also known as pearl onions for this recipe. These look very cute and appealing giving the restaurant type vibe but honestly peeling and working with these pearls can get tedious at times. The super easy alternative is using our regular large red onion. Just slice them into thin julienne slices.
Vinegar - Soaking the onions in vinegar helps reducing the pungent onion flavor and giving it a sweet and sour taste. Pickled red onions tend to develop a lovely pinkish red color when soaked in vinegar.
Salt - to season.
Sugar - Adding sugar to the vinegar water mixture is optional but it really helps balance the acidity and bring out the natural sweetness of the onions.
Red chilli powder - This help add a little bit of heat and also enhances the color. You can also add slit green chillies instead. Totally optional and can be skipped as well.
Serving Suggestions:
Sirke wala Pyaaz complements most Indian food be it dals or sabzis, vegetarian or non vegetarian food. Along with Indian food, pickled onions can also be added to salads, sandwiches, wraps, rolls and burgers. They truly enhance the flavor and take the dish to the next level.
How to make Quick pickled onions
Quick pickled onions recipe is very easy. All it needs is soaking peeled and washed/cut onions into a mixture made of water vinegar, salt and sugar and letting it marinate for couple of hours. And there you are ready to enjoy better than restaurant type sirkewala pyaaz at home.
Method:
In a bowl/clean jar add the vinegar, water, salt,sugar, red chilli powder (optional). Mix well till sugar and salt dissolve. Add the red onions and mix well. Cover and refrigerate for 15-30 mins or overnight.
That's it, our sweet and sour Pickled Onions - SirkeWale Pyaaz are ready. Serve them with your favorite Indian meal along with some green chutney for that restaurant type feel. Enjoy!!
Few Tips and variations
- You can reduce or increase the vinegar content to your tolerance of sourness.More vinegar equals more sour onions.
- This recipe is for instant/quick pickled onions. If you don't plan to use the onions the very same day or next, I suggest using less vinegar to avoid the onions becoming too sour which can be unpleasant.
- You can also add other spices like red chilli powder, whole black pepper, garlic etc can be added as additional flavoring.
- These onions stay good for couple of days when refrigerated.
- You can re-use the vinegar mixture within two days. Just add more onions to it.
More such delicious Indian Condiments to try:
Hope you enjoy this Pickled Onions - SirkeWale Pyaaz as much as we do!! If you give this recipe a try, we did love to hear your feedback ❤️ Please rate by clicking stars ⭐️in the recipe card. Thank you!
Recipe Card
Quick Pickled Onions - Sirke Wale Pyaaz
Ingredients
- 1 10oz bag pearl red onions (283gms) or 1 large red onion thinly sliced
- ¼ cup vinegar distilled white
- ½ cup water
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon sugar
- pinch red chilli powder optional
Instructions
- In a bowl/clean jar add the vinegar, water, salt, sugar, red chilli powder (optional). Mix well till sugar and salt dissolve.
- Add the red onions and mix well. Cover and refrigerate for 30 mins to an hour or overnight.
- The thicker the onions, the longer they will take to marinate. So sliced onions will marinate quicker than pearl onions.
Notes
- You can reduce or increase the vinegar content to your tolerance of sourness. More vinegar equals more sour onions.
- The recipe above is for instant/quick pickled onions. If you don’t plan to use the onions the very same day or next, I suggest using less vinegar to avoid the onions becoming too sour which can be unpleasant.
- Other spices like red chilli powder, whole black pepper, garlic etc can be added as additional flavoring.
- These onions stay good for couple of days when refrigerated.
- The vinegar mix can be reused within 24-48 hours for soaking next batch of onions. Just add more onions to it.
Happy Cooking!!
Shweta
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