Dec
As promised, I shall post the recipe James used for pickling his cucumelons. Now don’t stop reading if you think you’ll never have cucumelons to pickle. It just so happenend that when clearing the garden at the end of the season, James did have a lot of them. The pickle recipe may be used on other veg as well, though. Regular cucumbers, thinly sliced carrots or beetroot … you may prolong the shelve life of any vegetable of your choice, while actually enhancing its flavour and spicing things up a bit with this simple recipe.
You will need:
- 300 ml water
- 200 ml cider vinegar
- 3 heaped tbs sugar
- 2 tbs coriander seeds
- 1 tbs sambal oelek
- 2 chili peppers, sliced
It will depend on the shape of what your pickling and how snuggly you fit it into a jar, but this should last you about three large jars.
Opting for small jars will make it easier to gift them. We found the truthpaste jars to be an ideal size. They’ll look really cute in a home-made hamper -especially if you actually do make your own labels (not all of us are equally well prepared and crafty, but I trust in your ability to out-do James on this particular point). And they may look just cute enough to put on a richly set table like that.
To make the pickle:
Simply put all ingredients together in a pot and heat.
Put your veg in your jars, top with chili pepper and pour in slightly cooled mixture.
James added the peppers to the pot and then ladled the lot in, but I am quite sure that will only increase your chances of spilling.
In a cool and dark place, this pickle should last for at least three months. Provided it does not get eaten first.
And as an added bonus-tip: chili peppers can be easily chopped up frozen.
This means you can easily save some money buying them when reduced for going out of date and save them from going to waste, taking only out as much as you want, whenever you want. Win-win.
Another way to save some chilis is to make your own sambal. And while we’re add it, I might as well add a quick recipe for that as well.
To make your own sambal:
Chop up your chili peppers -you can diminish some of the heat by taking out the white bits, or leave them in for a real hot sambal.
Boil them with the lid on, with not quite enough water to cover, for about 15 minutes.
For every 100 grams of raw peppers used, add 1/2 tablespoon vinegar, 1/2 tablespoon oil, 1/2 teaspoon sugar and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Blend to desired smoothness and cool. Keep in the fridge.
And if you like a pickle, but not a spicey one, why not check out our recipe for pickled sprouts?
