Tradition of producing homemade pickle fades

Rural women sustain livelihood by selling product in mango season

MULTAN:

Like many other food items, the homemade mango pickle, once a source of earning for village women, is gradually diminishing from the society after its mass production by commercial entities.

In every mango season, women from different parts of the country, especially in rural areas, prepare the product for their use and sale to other people to earn a living. But different mango pickle producing companies gradually took over this small-scale business, leaving jobless thousands of rural women attached to the trade for decades.

Besides a small business, mango pickle is also a vital component of the local diet, being an additional cuisine and appetizer as well as taste developer. It offers health benefits with antioxidants, vitamins and minerals like fenugreek, and mustard seeds to support skin, vision and digestion, neutralise free radicals, stimulate appetite, improve nutrient absorption and boost immunity.

“I liked mango pickles from my childhood. We used to see our grandmother preparing it at home. Besides mangoes as raw material, she used to add oil, kalonji and other items to make it tasty,” said Tahir Mahmood, a middle-aged local resident. “We used to interestingly see her chopping the green mangoes, putting the eatable component in a jar and then adding oil and other items into it. This way, they used to preserve it for the whole year.”

Even in the recent past, the rural women had command on preparing pickles and using special techniques to preserve and save them from weather effects. However, most citizens, especially those with urban backgrounds, might be ignorant of the art of preparing homemade pickles.