Assorted pickles مخللات

Pickles are a hit and miss thing for me, every time I use the same ingredients, quantities and procedure and they come out either great or yucky. This batch was all successful. The amounts of vegetables are roughly right. Sometimes one or two are leftover and you have to discard it or use it in another way. Jars should have metal lids, I don’t know the scientific reason for this but homemade pickles or jams in plastic lidded jars will mould. Do not put your hand in the jar or use a wet or used fork to take out the pickles, even a metal lid will not help you then!

Turnip pickles

Ingredients:

700 gms turnips

1 small beetroot

Boiling water

Salt

Water

White vinegar.

Directions:

Peel and cut the turnips into medium chunks

Peel  beetroot and cut in smaller chunks, you just need a few for colour so you may not use all of it.

Put turnip and beetroot pieces in a large bowl. Pour enough boiling water  to cover them. Leave for ½ an hour.

Drain vegetables and put them in a clean dry jar with a metal lid.

Prepare brine by adding a tablespoon of salt per cup of water, add a small coffee cupful of vinegar to every 2 cups saltwater and stir.

you will need about 2 to 2 ½ cups of brine for this amount, pour brine over vegetables till it comes right up to the edge of the jar and covers the vegetables.

Cover and leave for at least 1 week before tasting it, if it is not done keep for a few days more.

Cucumber pickles

Ingredients:

750 gms small thin cucumbers

2 large cloves garlic

1 green chilli (optional)

Salt

Water

Vinegar

Directions:

Wash cucumbers and leave to dry, small cucumbers are best because they don’t have too many seeds or water contents and will not become too soft.

Put them in a clean dry jar with the garlic and chilli.

Prepare brine by dissolving 2 tbps of salt in 2 cups of water. Add a small coffee cupful of vinegar to every 2 cups saltwater and stir. This should be enough for this amount, if it isn’t make more.

 Pour brine into the jar making sure it covers all the cucumbers.

They will be ready in about a week. When ready put the jar in the fridge to keep them crisp and stop them pickling further.

Mixed Pickles

This is a local recipe probably derived from a Persian recipe. It uses cider vinegar as the pickling agent but I find it too strong and use a 2:1 solution of vinegar to water.

Ingredients:

2 tsps turmeric

Water to blanch vegetables

½ a small head cauliflower

1 carrot

2 small cucumbers

2 small turnips

3 cloves garlic

1-2 green chilis

1 tbp ground cumin

1 tbsp whole coriander

2 tsps nigella

Salt

2 cups cider vinegar

1 cup water

Salt

Directions:

Wash and prepare vegetables, peel turnips and slice, peel carrot and cut in sticks or thick rings, separate cauliflower into florets, cut cucumber in 3 pieces, peel garlic.

Mix turmeric and some salt with enough water in a pot to blanch the vegetables, bring the mixture to the boil. Drop cauliflower, turnip and carrot in the water for a minute, to colour vegetables with turmeric  and soften them ever so slightly. Do not leave them for longer. Drain the vegetables and spread them to cool.

In a frying pan roast the coriander seeds until fragrant, add cumin and roast briefly tip in a clean plate or they will continue roasting and will burn even if you take the pan off the heat. Crush coriander lightly using a jar or mortar.

In another pot add the vinegar and water, add coriander cumin mixture reserving 1 tbsp .

Add 1 ½ tbsp salt to the pot and bring to the boil for a few minutes. Take off the fire and leave to cool.

Layer the blanched and raw vegetables in the pickling  jar sprinkling nigella and reserved spices on each layer. Pour vinegar mixture on it and cover with a lid, check on it after a week.