Today I tried something that I have never made before, Piccalilli.

The trick with Piccalilli is to keep the crunch to the veg that you use, so no prolonged cooking – in fact in this recipe I just put the cold veg into the sauce, coated everything and jarred it up as quick as possible. Time will tell!

INGREDIENTS

1 kg of washed & peeled seasonal vegetables. I used cauliflower, green beans, cucumbers, marrow, carrots, onions & sweet corn
50g fine salt
30g cornflour
10g ground turmeric
10g English mustard powder
15g yellow mustard seeds
1 tsp crushed cumin seeds
1 tsp crushed coriander seeds
600ml Pickling Malt Vinegar
150g granulated sugar
50g honey

METHOD

Salt the veg to extract excess moisture:
Cut vegetables into small, bit-sized pieces.
Place in colander over a bowl and sprinkle with salt. Mix well, cover and leave    in a cool place for 24 hours. Rinse with cold water and drain thoroughly.

Blend the cornflour, turmeric, mustard powder, mustard seeds, cumin and coriander to a smooth paste with a little of the vinegar.

Put the rest of the vinegar into a saucepan with sugar and honey and bring to boil.
Pour a little of the hot vinegar over the blended spice paste to make a sauce, mix well and put the sauce in the pan. Stir the sauce into the vinegar & bring gently to the boil for 3-4 minutes.

Remove the pan from the heat and carefully fold in the vegetables.
Pack into warm sterilised jars and seal immediately.

Leave for 5 -6 weeks before opening.