Recipes
Pickled Chillies
Pickles rock! They are wicked on their own or as a topping on your favourite dishes and with choices like pickled cucumber, beetroot, onion, chillies and so on – you can find an excuse to eat them anytime you want. Pickling has been used as a means to preserve food for thousands of years, with one of the earliest known uses dating back to 2030 BC where cucumbers where pickled in the Tigris Valley region of India. Aristotle even claimed that pickled cucumbers had healing effects which is good enough for me!
This recipe is so much better than the store-bought chillies you will find sitting by the boxed Mexican ‘kits’ in UK supermarkets. They still have a kick with that pickled twang and work really well with Mexican dishes such as Tacos & Burritos, and are also great in sandwiches and with curries.
One of the best things about pickling things such as chillies, is how much you can play with what you pickle them in. With this recipe, I have pulled back the sugar quantity as the more sugar you add, not only the sweeter, but the less spicy they become. But if you love the American style pickles in the sweet brine, crank the sugar up! I have used a mix of cider and distilled vinegar for this, but again the choice is yours! For a fruitier, sweeter pickle you can just use cider vinegar, red wine vinegar is great for pickling onions & beetroot. You also have a huge array of spices to choose from (or even none at all) such as whole peppercorns, cumin seeds, chilli flakes etc. So if you find yourself with an abundance of vegetables that you don’t want to end up throwing away – grab your vinegar and get pickling!!
Pickled Chillies
This recipe is for a 1 litre jar so adjust the recipe to the amount you want
Yields: 1 litre jar
- 300g Chillies (Around 20 chillies, I used Serrano Chillies but the choice is yours)
- 350ml Water
- 175ml Distilled Vinegar
- 175ml Cider Vinegar
- 2tbsp Sea Salt
- 1tbsp Sugar
- 2 Garlic Cloves (whole)
- 1 Bay Leaf
- 1tsp Coriander Seeds
- 1tsp Mustard Seeds
- Cut the chillies 1/4" thick and discard the tops - add your cut chillies to a bowl
- In a medium sizes saucepan heat the water, both vinegars, salt, sugar, garlic, bay leaf and seeds. Bring your pickling liquid to the boil and take off the heat
- Pour the pickling liquid over your chillies and leave to cool for 20 minutes
- Add the chillies to your jar(s) and then pour the liquid over the top
- Once cool, store in the fridge. These will last for a month or so and are good to eat after 3-4 days
- Preparation time: 30 minutes
- Cook time: 5 minutes
- Total time: 35 minutes
Cameron
Good recipe. will try it out
Just Add Hot Sauce
Yeah do it! It is so easy and you can play around with the amount of sugar you use/type of cider and spices!