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I am trying to pickle some mangoes the Indian way. I boiled the jar in hot water, dried it and then added the mixture of spices, salt and mangoes to the jars after the mixture had cooled. I made the mixture in a frying pan to try and remove as much water as I could. After it was cooled, I put it in the jar and heated some mustard oil till it just barely started smoking. I let that cool and poured it over the mango spice mixture.

For the first three days it was fine. On the fourth day, I opened it to test the taste and ended up adding more salt. Now, there seems to be gas forming in the jar. I've noticed it a few times now. When I open the jar, I hear a whooshing noise as air escapes. It's quite a lot, since I opened the container about 3 times in a 10 hour period and each time gas escaped. Has this pickle gone bad? Or is this something that's normal?

Mien
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user16900
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4 Answers4

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This is completely normal and expected.

Indian pickle is fermented. One of the by products of that fermentation is gas. The salt keeps undesirable bacteria from growing.

In the future you should use a container that can be less tightly closed and allow some of the gas to vent as it ferments. You wouldn't want a bottle to burst.

Sobachatina
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  • i used to prepare mango pickle almost every year,and i did kept it as it is for 5 yrs long with that freshness and taste. – Sunishtha Singh Feb 22 '13 at 11:22
  • i am having experience in making mango pickle from my teenage and for sure i remember my mom never let the container closed less tightly as it will lead moisture in it which ferment the pickle.you need to close it tightly and properly,and even while serving you must used a clean,dry spoon for it. – Sunishtha Singh Feb 22 '13 at 11:58
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    @Sunishtha- I hear often that moisture will spoil pickles. It's on my list to experiment because it doesn't make any sense at all. The jar is already full of moisture from the juice. To make a difference there would have to be so much moisture that it significantly dilutes the salt and acid- much more than just a few drops. I'll test it eventually. – Sobachatina Feb 25 '13 at 15:15
  • Its not necessarily happens every time that your pickle will spoiled or fermented due to moisture. But actually these instructions are to be followed to increase the shelf life of pickle. As dust particle can ferment and spoil it, where as you mentioned that"the jar is already full of moisture from the juice" i am not getting to what juices you are pointing, pickle is a produced by mixture of oil and salt, to thaw the desired fruit/veggie. The natural juice of raw mango, that is helpful in producing pickle. – Sunishtha Singh Feb 25 '13 at 19:08
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    Mangoes are 84% water. Plenty of dust will waft in before the bottle is sealed. The salt and acid prevent pickles from spoiling. I just can't imagine that a few extra drops of water could make a noticeable difference unless the water was heavily contaminated. – Sobachatina Feb 25 '13 at 19:12
  • yes it will, that's not actually water its natural contains. And after under going pickle recipe the whole ph of the mixture is changed,so it have its different properties and procedure to store. – Sunishtha Singh Feb 25 '13 at 19:16
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These videos explain the process: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zqUVTnE-Yzk and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Et3VgJobTrU

You also need to take care while preparing pickle:-

  1. the container must be of glass ware,properly cleaned and dried.
  2. the salt should be little more so it won't let fermentation.
  3. after purchasing all whole spices, put them under sun for a day or two, it will make them dry, for an alternative you can fry them in deep frying pan (kadhai) without oil at medium flame, then grind them finely powdered in grinder.
  4. let it be cooled down to room temp, keep away from water or any such container which may moisten it.
  5. mix all the spices and oil well with the chopped pieces of mangoes (you can chop according to your will 4-6 pieces of a mango), and put them in that cleaned jar/pot.
  6. your pickle is almost ready, now last what you need it to keep that jar under sun for approx 4-6 days regularly. It will help in reducing fermentation and you can keep your pickle for long.

The most important while making pickle your hands, jars/pots must be clean and dry properly. And in case you are purchasing all powdered spices then fry them in frying pan without oil one by one each ingredient on sim flame.

Sunishtha Singh
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    in case you can keep it under sun,then dry all ingredients by frying properly without letting them burn out.and add some more salt to it,in this it will take atleast 2-3 days more to eat.in case you found that pickle is soaking oil you need to add more mustard oil to it. – Sunishtha Singh Feb 22 '13 at 11:51
  • @Sobachatina undesirable particles lead to fermentation and spoilage. – Sunishtha Singh Feb 25 '13 at 19:12
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Mango Pickle producing gas is a regular thing. But you have to be careful not to overdo it. Otherwise, your glass jar may crack. Keep your pickle jar in the sun occasionally with the lid off to avoid excess gas production.

John Mullins
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If you used Methi seeds, it should be properly roasted. It should splutter .Gas generation some times may be because of quality of mangos.

SRINIVAS PAI
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