Small batch, hand spiced

Indigo Pickles origin story starts back 7 years ago when I moved to Boulder, Utah. I had grown up between Salt Lake City and San Diego and had lived in cities my whole life. Boulder was a huge change for me because it’s a very rural and remote community that’s hours away from an urban center. I now had to grow a lot of my own food to make the sleepy & snowy winter months affordable and tolerable. I don’t know about you, but when it’s snowy and you’re living down a 5-mile dirt road, you don’t really want to leave your home and you find joy in cooking and creating delicious meals.

I found friends in the community that helped me start my very first garden. As the years passed, my husband and I kept expanding the garden, and year after year we grew more and more food. I started pickling and canning to keep up with all of the vegetables and I wanted to add diversity to our canned food.

In 2017, I took my first trip to India. This is where I discovered the many flavors of that vast and immeasurable country and fell in love with India. I went to every spice walla (vendor) I could find and brought home a gigantic bag of spices. During that year, I did a lot of cooking with those spices and I added a few curry powders to pickles every once in a while and brought them to gatherings. My friends would comment on how unique and delicious the pickles tasted.

In December 2018, I returned to India. This time, I traveled mostly in the central and northern parts. My goal was to taste every pickle. While in Jodhpur (The Blue City) with its many blue walls of color, I had the most delicious pickled red onions I have ever tasted and later that day, I found a shop called Maharani Spices owned by a man named Naveen. We chatted with him for quite a long time and I decided to order a box of spices to ship home. Naveen was incredibly helpful. I asked him about flavors to mix and what chilis work better for which dishes.  I left Maharani Spices invigorated and full of energy. During the trip, I decided to create a pickle and fermenting business that uses all Indian-inspired flavors and spices. No more dilly cucumbers for me, this girl wanted BIG flavor! I decided to name my business “Indigo Pickles” because of the blue city of Jodhpur; the hues of indigo are in every form from the painted walls to the block print saris. It seemed fitting and an ode to a country I deeply love.

Because of that trip, I was able to come home and start this business and grow it slowly over time. I have made purchases through Naveen since then and I plan to source my spices directly from India as I continue to make delicious and unique pickles and ferments for you to enjoy. Thank you for your support.

To see more info on Maharani Spices visit this link: http://www.maharanispice.com.