Home India’s ‘pickle queen’ preserves everything, including the past Flavor and spice ingredients used in pickling by Usha Prabakaran in Chennai, India on Dec. 10. 2019. (Saumya Khandelwal/The New York Times)

Flavor and spice ingredients used in pickling by Usha Prabakaran in Chennai, India on Dec. 10. 2019. (Saumya Khandelwal/The New York Times)

Usha Prabakaran at home in Chennai, India on Dec. 10. 2019. (Saumya Khandelwal/The New York Times)

A string of the fruity-tasting rhizome known as mango ginger, spiced and ready for pickling, at the home of Usha Prabakaran in Chennai, India, Dec. 10. 2019. (Saumya Khandelwal/The New York Times)