American-style piccalilli

This is a delicious cabbage-based relish, very good at jazzing up a plate of plain food such as boiled dinners, etc.

We’ve very carefully labelled this “American-style” in an attempt to ward off howls of outrage from the English, who will say this is not Piccalilli: their Piccalilli is chunks of vegetables in a mustard sauce with no cabbage. For something close to that condiment, try the recipes for Mustard Pickle or Mustard Bean.

This recipe is very easily doubled or tripled without causing too much extra work, especially given that a food processor can do most of the heavy lifting for you.

The recipe

Jars: Quarter-litre (½ US pint / 250 ml / 8 oz) OR half-litre (1 US pint / 500 ml/ 16 oz)

Processing method: Water bath or steam canning

Yield: 4 x half-litre (US pint) jars

Headspace: 2 cm (½ inch)

Processing time: 10 minutes either size jar

3.55 from 20 votes

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American-style Piccalilli

Very simple homespun ingredients, but look at the intricate spicing on this: that's where the magic happens. Yield: 4 x half-litre (1 US pint) jars

Course Condiments

Cuisine American

Keyword Relish

Prep Time 45 minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes

Total Time 1 hour 15 minutes

Yield 4 half-litre (1 US pint) jars

Calories 21 kcal

Ingredients

• 750 g green tomatoes (chopped. 1 ¾ lbs, about 5 ½ cups. Measured after prep)
• 500 g cabbage (finely-chopped. 1 lb / about 5 cups. Measured after prep)
• 300 g bell pepper (seeded, chopped. Measured after prep. About 2 cups / 10 oz. 2 large from the store)
• 175 g onion (finely chopped. 1 cup / 6 oz. Measured after prep)
• 4 tablespoons pickling salt (OR non-bitter, non-clouding salt sub)
• 600 ml cider vinegar (5% acidity or higher. 2 ¼ cups / 18 oz)
• 2 tablespoons garlic (minced)
• 2 tablespoons horseradish root (grated)
• 1 tablespoon mustard seed
• 1 tablespoon celery seed
• 1 tablespoon ginger root fresh, minced)
• 150 g light brown sugar (¾ lightly packed / 5 oz) OR 1 teaspoon liquid stevia
• 1 tablespoon chile flakes (optional)
• 1 tablespoon mustard powder (optional)
• 2 teaspoons turmeric (optional)
• 1 teaspoon coriander seed (optional)

Metric - US Customary

Instructions

1. Prep the veg from the tomatoes down to and including the onion.
2. Put in large bowl or pot.
3. Sprinkle the salt OR salt sub over, mix it in.
4. Cover the mixture let sit in a cool place for a minimum of 4 hours; overnight in the fridge is fine, too. You can mix or toss a few times if you like.
5. Drain, rinse and drain again.
6. Set aside.
7. Put all the remaining ingredients from the vinegar on down into a large pot.
8. Bring to a boil, then lower to a simmer.
9. Simmer for 10 minutes.
10. Add the veg.
11. Bring the mixture back to a boil.
12. If it's really too liquidy for your liking, you can simmer for another few minutes until it's the consistency you want (it's all going to depend on how juicy the tomatoes were.)
13. Pack into your choice of the following jar sizes: quarter-litre (½ US pint / 8 oz), or half-litre (1 US pint / 16 oz).
14. Leave 2 cm (½ inch) headspace regardless of jar size.
15. Debubble, adjust headspace.
16. Wipe jar rims.
17. Put lids on.
18. Process in a water bath or steam canner.
19. Process either size jar for 10 minutes; increase time as needed for your altitude.
20. Best after at least a month of jar time.

Reference information

How to water bath process.

How to steam can.

When water-bath canning or steam canning, you must adjust the processing time for your altitude.

For salt substitute, Herbamare Sodium-Free was used.

For stevia, Better Stevia liquid stevia was the stevia used.

More information about Sugar and Salt-Free Canning in general.

Australia and New Zealand vinegar strength special notes.

Recipe notes

• The purpose of the initial soak is to let some flavour soak into the veg, and to allow some water to leech out.
• The green tomatoes can be slicing tomatoes or plum-type tomatoes. Slicing tomatoes will have more water in them and so may require a bit more simmering.
• You can use a food processor to chop up the tomatoes coarsely: use the pulse button though or you will have tomato juice.
• You can also use a food processor to chop the cabbage and pepper.
• Instead of cider vinegar, you can use white vinegar (5% or higher).
• For the ginger, you can use ginger from a tube to save time, or, ½ teaspoon dried powdered ginger.
• Many people feel that horseradish does not retain its heat in canning, so you can omit it if you wish. It adds no safety, just seasoning.

Recipe Source

Piccalilli. In: Ziedrich, Linda. The Joy of Pickling. Boston, Massachusetts: The Harvard Common Press. 2009. Page 310.

Also consulted:

• Piccalilli or Green Tomato Relish. In: Ball Blue Book. Muncie, Indiana: Healthmark LLC / Jarden Home Brands. Edition 37. 2014. Page 88.
• Piccalilli Relish. In: Kingry, Judi and Lauren Devine. Ball / Bernardin Complete Book of Home Preserving. Toronto: Robert Rose. 2015. Page 227.

Modifications made:

• Added seasoning options of celery seed, turmeric, dry mustard, coriander seed, and chile flake.

Nutrition information

Regular version

Per 2 tablespoons:

• 21 calories, 94 mg sodium

Sugar and salt-free version

Per 2 tablespoons:

• 12 calories, 5 mg sodium
• Weight Watchers PointsPlus®: 1 to 4 tablespoons, 0 points; 5 to 12 tablespoons, 1 point.

* Nutrition info provided by https://caloriecount.about.com

* PointsPlus™ calculated by healthycanning.com. Not endorsed by Weight Watchers® International, Inc, which is the owner of the PointsPlus® registered trademark.

* Better Stevia ® is a registered trademark of the NOW Foods Company.

* Herbamare ® is a registered trademark of the A. Vogel Corporation.