My grandma used to make this to give to friends and relatives. This is a perfect accompaniment to grilled/barbecue, fried fish or pork and some even eat it as a dish itself.
Achara/atsara is the Philippine contribution to the world of Asian pickles. Any vegetable can be used for making achara but most Filipinos use green papaya.
When we went grocery shopping at the oriental store today, hubby bought Papaya and so I thought he was up to something.He even called my mother in law in Manila just to ask his mom about her moms recipe for Achara. But eventually he settled for the internet recipe.
Here is one recipe for Achara
Ingredients
4 cups grated fresh green papaya
1/4 cup salt
1 carrot, peeled and sliced
1 red bell pepper, sliced into long strips
1 (2 inch) piece fresh ginger root, peeled and sliced
2 green chile peppers, sliced into thin rings
1 (1.5 ounce) box raisins
1 cup white vinegar
1 cup water
1 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon salt
Achara or Atsara Cooking Instructions:
Toss the grated papaya with 1/4 cup salt together in a large bowl; allow to sit for 1 hour.
Drain the liquid from the papaya and rinse thoroughly.
Place the papaya in the middle of a large piece of cheesecloth and squeeze to drain as much liquid from the papaya as possible.
Combine the papaya, carrot, red bell pepper, ginger, green chile peppers, and raisins together in a clean large bowl; mix.
Transfer the mixture to clean, dry jars with lids.
Stir the vinegar, water, sugar and 1 teaspoon salt together in a small saucepan; bring to a boil for 5 minutes.
Pour the vinegar mixture into the jars, making sure the vegetables are completely submerged in liquid.
Allow the vegetables to marinate in the liquid at least 1 day before using.
Store in refrigerator between uses.
It turned out to be very good.So for the coming days we will surely have fried fish or fried pork, any dish that will go well with this pickle.
