Sweet, tangy, and of course hot and spicy thanks to chilies and garam masala – no winter would be complete without the making of the ubiquitous Punjabi cauliflower, carrot and turnip pickle! It is the perfect accompaniment to a hot, fresh parantha for breakfast. Try this simplified, easy recipe!
Ingredients:
- 500g carrots, cut into 2” long pieces (preferably red carrots)
- 500g cauliflower, cut into florets (use stems as well by cutting into 1” pieces)
- 500g turnips, cut into half and sliced into quarters
- 3.5 liters water (14 cups) approximately
- 50g ginger, roughly chopped
- 50g garlic, about 25 large cloves, peeled
- 1 cup sugarcane or malt vinegar
- 1 cup jaggery, grated (about 200g)
- 3 tablespoons Kashmiri chili, ground
- 2½ tablespoons red chili, ground
- 3 tablespoons black mustard, freshly ground
- 3 tablespoons garam masala
- 3 tablespoons rock salt
- 1 cup mustard oil
- For bottling: 2 sterilized 1-liter glass bottles
- Boil water in a large stockpot. When boiling, add cut vegetables, and blanch for 3-4 minutes.
- Drain vegetables, pat dry, and allow vegetables to dry on trays preferably in the sun, for 2-3 hours.
- Grind garlic and ginger in a grinder (without adding water) to get a coarse paste.
- Heat vinegar on medium heat in a saucepan. Add jaggery and bring to boil. Keep on a slow boil for 8-10 minutes, until you get a thick sugar syrup. Do not overcook.
- Heat mustard oil in a deep non-stick wok till it begins to smoke. Turn off heat. Add garlic and ginger paste and sauté in hot oil for a minute.
- Add vegetables, ground Kashmiri chili, ground red chili, ground mustard, garam masala, and rock salt. Mix well until vegetables are evenly coated with oil and spices.
- Add vinegar and sugar syrup, turn on heat, and allow vegetables to cook for 3-4 minutes until well coated in syrup. Remove from heat. Check seasonings.
- Cool slightly. Fill in and store in 2 sterilized 1-liter glass bottles. Cover bottles with a cloth until cool.
- Keep covered bottles in bright sunlight, sealed for 3-4 days, shaking often. The sunlight helps to kill surface-level bacteria.
- Preferably refrigerate, and keep daily quantities in smaller bottles. Serve with Indian meals.
Prep Time: 20 minutes plus drying time of 3-4 hours, and pickling time of 3-4 days.
Critical Ingredients:
It is hard to replace any ingredients here. Ground Kashmiri chili can be replaced with 2 tablespoons paprika or one tablespoon ground red chili. Carrots can be replaced with Daikon radish. The jaggery can be replaced with brown sugar. Other ingredients are critical to the flavor including the mustard oil. When removing pickles into smaller bottles, make sure the surface is covered with oil. If not heat some mustard oil to smoking, allow to cool, and pour over the pickle. Use glass bottles, and to sterilize wash with boiling water (or boil in a large pot), washing and boiling covers as well. Allow airing dry.