#piccalilli

Piccalilli on Sunday 2 September 2018

We all love piccalilli. We love its sharp sweetness as it envelops the crunch of vegetables. With a courgette glut and plenty of baby onions, making it myself seemed like a good idea.

I used a recipe that was a combination of Sarson’s, Waitrose, and the BBC. I’ll let you know how it turned out in about a month when it has matured.

570ml white vinegar

125ml cider vinegar

175g sugar

2 tablespoons English mustard powder

1 tablespoon turmeric

1 tablespoon ground ginger

1 tablespoon coriander seeds, lightly crushed

1 tablespoon yellow or brown mustard seeds

3 tablespoons cornflour

400-500g cauliflower, broken into the smallest florettes

400-500g baby onions, skinned

400-500g courgettes, cut into small cubes

3 cloves garlic

Salt

Begin with the vegetables. Break and chop them into smaller than bite-sized pieces, remembering that piccalilli will often be used as a sandwich pickle, so can’t be too chunky. Place all of the vegetables into a non-metallic bowl and salt then well. Leave them to rest for at least one hour. (Some recipes don’t salt; some rest for 12 hours; others for 24 hours. Mine had a bit of a salt.)

After your vegetables have rested, rinse them well. And set them to drain.

Combine the mustard powder, ginger, turmeric, mustard seeds, and cornflour in a small bowl with the cider vinegar. Whisk it well so that it forms a smooth paste.

In a preserving pan, heat the white vinegar with the sugar and coriander seeds until the sugar has dissolved and the vinegar has come to the boil. (Be careful: do not inhale the fumes.) Tip in the spice paste and mix well to form a thick sauce that coats the back of a spoon.

So I’m making use of the summer vegetables and pickling everything. I love piccalilli so thought I’d have ago at my own. The agonising part is I have to wait a month before I try it. I added extra mustard powder as I like a quick in mine. At least it will be ready for the winter. Ingredients 1 cauliflower head, florets broken into very small florets 1 broccoli head, florets broken into small…