Indian pickles are a variety of spicy pickled side dish or condiment popular in the Indian Subcontinent, in Southeast Asia, and in many other areas among ethnically South Asian communities. The pickle serves as a flavor enhancer and is eaten typically in small pieces with the rest of the meal. There are a wide variety of different pickles made and each is usually made with a mixture of fruits or vegetables which are chopped and marinated in a liquid (often oil or lemon juice) and a variety of different spices (often including lots of chile pepper) and salt. Pickling in India is an ancient art of food preservation. Indian pickles are quite different from the European variety in that the pickling is usually done in oil rather than using vinegar.Almost all sorts of fruits vegetables found in south Asia are pickled in this manner, including pumpkins, palm hearts, mango slices, limes and rose petals, along with vegetables more conventionally pickled in the west. Some of the most popular pickles are lemon pickle, lime pickle, mixed pickle (with various vegetables such as cauliflower, carrot, and radish), mango pickle, onion pickle, and garlic pickle. Some pickles may even contain fish (typically Synodus spp.) as their main ingredient.