Last week, a dear Parsi friend sent across bafenu, a ripe Alphonso mango pickle flavoured with mustard seeds, spices and jaggery. The fat fermented mango had its skin intact, sitting in a watery orange sea. The accompanying note mentioned that it was an annual delicacy, and apart from playing the role of a pickle, it can be used instead of chutney in cucumber sandwiches. This reminded me of my aunt who once added chundo (sweet mango pickle) into the thepla dough to add a khatas (sourness). While a pickle is usually a side condiment in meals, there are many ways to incorporate it in cooking to add a tarty taste. Purabi Naha who runs her blog Cosmopolitan Currymania, uses kasundi along with ingredients that make a pickle to whip up a salad. "I use kasundi, panch phoran masala, dry roasted jeera, chilli, and aam papad for an arugula and lettuce salad," says Naha, who spent a few years in Hong Kong and picked up the staple Korean kimchi fried rice (kimchi bokkeumbap).

When we ask Vikram Arora of Tamak about using pickles in cooking, he instantly remembers the biryani he ate at an eatery near Jama Masjid in Delhi. "The makers add mirchi ka achar when they are layering the biryani. They add it in the oil that is drizzled over every layer. It results in an intense flavour," shares Arora, who explains that in Bihar, they add it in the sattu stuffing called makuni in litti as well.