Piccalilli

Ingredients

Vegetables

• 1small cauliflower, in small florets
• 300 gpickling onions or shallots, halved
• 300 gcucumber, cubed and deseeded
• 200 ggreen beans, in short lengths
• 60 gsalt

Sauce

• 600 mlmalt or cider vinegar
• 150 gsugar
• 3 tbspEnglish mustard powder
• 1 tbspground turmeric
• 1 tbspground ginger
• 1 tspground coriander
• 3 tbspcornflour
• 1 tspsalt

To serve

• cold ham or pork pie
• mature cheddar and bread

Directions

1. Cut everything to a similar small size and layer it with the salt in a large bowl. Leave 12 hours or overnight.
2. Rinse the vegetables thoroughly under cold water and drain them very well, spreading them on a tea towel to dry.
3. That dry-salting is what keeps piccalilli crunchy for a year. Salted vegetables give up their water first, so they cannot dilute the sauce later and go limp in the jar.
4. Do not cook the vegetables. Piccalilli is a raw pickle in a cooked sauce, and boiled cauliflower turns to mush within a month.
5. Mix the mustard powder, turmeric, ginger, coriander and cornflour to a smooth paste with a little of the vinegar. Lumps at this stage stay lumpy forever.
6. Bring the rest of the vinegar and the sugar to a boil, then whisk in the spice paste and cook two to three minutes until thickened and glossy, whisking constantly.
7. Take off the heat, tip in the drained vegetables and stir until everything is coated in yellow.
8. Pack into hot sterilised jars while the sauce is still hot, pressing down to remove air pockets, and seal at once with vinegar-proof lids.
9. Leave at least six weeks before opening. Fresh piccalilli tastes harshly of raw mustard and vinegar; six weeks turns it round completely.
10. It keeps a year unopened, and a month in the fridge once opened.

Technique

• Salt overnight, rinse, dry. Never cook the vegetables.
• Smooth spice paste before it meets the hot vinegar.
• Six weeks in the cupboard before you open a jar.

Substitutions

• Marrow, romanesco or green tomato among the vegetables.
• Cider vinegar for a milder pickle than malt.
• More mustard and less sugar for the sharp old-fashioned version.

Variations

• The Indian pickles that inspired Hannah Glasse’s 1758 recipe to pickle vegetables the India way.
• Chopped into a sauce for gammon, or spread in a cheese sandwich.

History

An English answer to Indian pickles; Hannah Glasse printed a recipe to pickle vegetables the East India way in 1758.

Frequently asked questions

What is Piccalilli?

Piccalilli is a fermented & pickled from United Kingdom: mustard-yellow relish of cauliflower and onion in turmeric and vinegar. An English answer to Indian pickles; Hannah Glasse printed a recipe to pickle vegetables the East India way in 1758.

How long does Piccalilli take to make?

Piccalilli takes 40 min plus 12 hours salting of preparation and 25 min of cooking. The recipe makes fills 4 × 350 ml jars. It is rated easy to make.

What can I substitute in Piccalilli?

Yes, within limits. Marrow, romanesco or green tomato among the vegetables. Cider vinegar for a milder pickle than malt. More mustard and less sugar for the sharp old-fashioned version.

What is the most important thing to get right in Piccalilli?

Do not cook the vegetables. Piccalilli is a raw pickle in a cooked sauce, and boiled cauliflower turns to mush within a month.