Pickles

Egypt is famous for different kinds of pickles. There is no meal without pickles being serve on the table. Youll find varieties of pickles from onions to eggplant ^_^.Let's scroll the recipes of different varieties of pickles.

Pickled Onion 

Ingredients

1 kg small onions
1 cup red hot pepper cut into small pieces
1 TBSP mustard seeds
1 TBSP coriander seeds
6 cups white vinegar
2 cups water
1 TBSP honey
4 celery sticks

Method

Put onion in boiled water for few minutes, then peel without using a knife, put in cold water and drain.

Add mustard, coriander, celery to vinegar and boil to get an addition flavor, drain, set aside.

Put onion in sterile jar, add red pepper pieces, and cover with vinegar till 1 cm left from the top, seal properly.

Put jar in boiled water bath (put the jar in bigger pan with boiled water) for 10 minutes to get the air out of the jar.

Keep for a week till fully pickled or depends on the size of the onions.


Pickled Pepper

Ingredients

1 yellow pepper
1 red pepper
1 green pepper
3 garlic cloves cut into thin circles
2 TBSP Honey
3 cups white vinegar
1 tsp ginger powder

Method

Cut pepper in halves; remove the upper part and the seeds, cut to small pieces.

Boil water on medium heat, add pepper for two minutes, drain and set aside.

Melt well honey in vinegar.

Mix pepper pieces with garlic rounds and ginger, put in small jars, cover with vinegar and honey.

Seal jars tightly, keep for 3 days before use.

Keep in fridge after use.

Pickled Green Olives

 

Ingredients

1 kilo large green olives
4 T celery leaves, finely chopped
5 Garlic cloves
2 Carrots, grated
3 Chili peppers
1 portion lemon juice (keep the skin)
1 portion white vinegar
1 portion salted water (3 tablespoons of coarse salt for each cup)
Cooking oil

Method

• Wash olives well. Make a cut from top to bottom of olives with a sharp knife.
 
• Soak them for three days in fresh water to lose their bitterness.
 
• Crush garlic cloves in little salt and chili pepper. Mix with carrots and celery.
 
• Drain and wash well. Arrange in layers alternately with the mixture of garlic, carrots and celery. Press to get rid of air.
 
• Place a layer of lemon skins between layers of olives and vegetables, or put the lemon skins on the top.
 
• Mix lemon juice, vinegar and salted water (the portions depend on quantity of olives). Portions should be equal, so if one cup of lemon juice is used, mix it with one cup of vinegar and one cup of salted water.
 
• Cover with a layer of oil. Close the container tightly. Leave for a month at least, the longer the better. Keep in a cool dry place away from light. 

Vinegar Pickled Carrots

 

Ingredients

• 1 cup distilled white vinegar
• 2 tablespoons white sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 2/3 cup water
• 8 large carrots, diced

Directions

1. In a medium saucepan, mix distilled white vinegar, white sugar, salt, pepper and water. Bring the mixture to a boil. Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly. 
2. Place the carrots in sterile containers. Cover with the vinegar solution. Seal the containers, refrigerate and marinate carrots 12 hours or overnight before serving.

Eggplant Pickles

 

 

Ingredients

 

8 to 10 small Japanese eggplants

 

1 green bell pepper, chopped

 

1 red bell pepper, chopped

 

1 cup chopped celery

 

1/2 bunch parsley springs

 

3 cloves garlic, chopped

 

2 tablespoons salt

 

2 cups lukewarm water

 

3 cups vinegar

 

 

Directions

Wash the eggplants and cut off the stem ends.
 

Place in a pan with water to cover.
 

Bring to a boil over high heat.
 

Reduce heat and simmer for fifteen minutes.
 

Drain into a colander and run cold water over the eggplants until they are completely cool.
 

Set aside.
 

Prepare the filling by mixing together the peppers, celery, parsley and garlic.
 

Make a lengthwise slit in each eggplant and stuff with the filling.
 

Arrange them in jars.
 

Combine the salt with the lukewarm water and stir until dissolved.
 

Add the vinegar.
 

Pour into the jars.
 

Cool, cover and refrigerate for two to three days before serving. 

 

Basic Pickled Chillies

 

This recipe is for approximately 900g of chillies.  Soak the chillies overnight in the brine first as it keeps the chillies crisper when pickled

Brine

• 3 cups water
• 1 cup pickling salt

Combine the salt and water. You don't want holes/slits in your chillies yet.

Cover the chillies with the brine in a bowl and put a plate or something similar over them to keep the chillies submerged. Soak the overnight then drain, rinse well, and dry.

Pickling Solution

• 3 cups white vinegar
• 3 cups water
• 3 teaspoons pickling salt

Poke two or three small holes in top of each chilli and pack them tightly in sterilized jars leaving 1cm (½ inch) at the top of the jar.

In a saucepan, combine the water, vinegar, and salt. Bring the solution to a boil and then pour over the chillies, leaving no space at the top. Remove trapped air bubbles.

Store for 4 to 6 weeks in a cool, dark place before serving.

Pickled Veggies

• Chillies, try and get some different colours in here

• Cauliflower and or broccoli, in florets
• Zucchini, unpeeled, thinly sliced
• Carrots, cut into rounds or use baby carrots
• Small, pickling onions, peeled and left whole
• Garlic cloves, whole
• Celery, cut into 3cm lengths
• 1 part water
• 1 part vinegar
• 2 teasp pickling salt per litre of liquid

Arrange your choice of vegetables and chillies in sterilized jars.

Boil the water, vinegar and salt to a boil for about a minute. Pour over the vegetables, leaving no room at the top, and cover.

Allow the mixture to pickle for at least 3 weeks in a cool, dark place before serving. 

Now let's go to the pickles made in different countries like:

Indian Chilli Pickle

• 1 kg (2 lb) fresh red or green chillies - your choice of varieties
• 125 ml (4 fl oz) vinegar
• 2 tablsp chopped garlic
• 500 ml (1 pint) mustard oil - most asian stores sell this
• 1 tablsp fenugreek seeds
• 1 tablsp ground turmeric
• 2 teasp nigella seeds
• 2 tablsp black mustard seeds
• 2 teasp crushed asafoetida - all asian stores sell this
• 2 tablsp salt

Wash and dry the chillies.

Cut off stalks and slice chillies across into 1 cm (1/2 in) slices.

Sprinkle with salt and turmeric, toss to mix evenly, cover and leave for 2 days in the sun or place in a very low oven for 2 hours each day.

Soak the mustard seeds in vinegar overnight, and grind in an electric blender with the garlic.

Heat oil in a large pan and add the fenugreek and nigella seeds.

Heat, while stirring, until the fenugreek is golden brown, then add the asafoetida, stir, and add the blended mustard seeds and the chillies together with any liquid that is there.

Cook, stirring now and then, until the oil rises to the top and the chillies are cooked but soft.

Let it cool and put into sterilised jars. 

Easy Chinese Pickled Chilli

The fish sauce obviously adds a different dimension to this however, the flavour is different from western pickles because of the rice vinegar which is less acidic and of milder flavour.

• 1 kg (2.2 lb) sliced chillies
• 1 cup rice wine vinegar
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 6 teaspoons fish sauce

Place the vinegar and sugar in a saucepan, and stir over low heat, without boiling, until sugar is dissolved.

Then simmer, uncovered and without stirring, for about 5 minutes, or until mixture is slightly reduced.

Remove from the heat, stir in fish sauce and then add the chillies.

Store in a sealed jar in the fridge - it's ready to start eating after about 1 week and will keep for months. 

 

CUCUMBER PICKLES

 

Ingredients

• 1/2 kg cucumber.
• 1/4 cup salt.
• 1 cup water.
• 1 cup vinegar.
• 1 garlic clove.
• Celery.

Cooking Instructions

• Wash and cut cucumber into rectangles or rings.
• In a jar, put the cucumber and garlic.
• Boil water and add venigar and salt, pour into the jar.
• Leave jar for three days.