Cauliflower pickle in hot peanut and sesame sauce

This is a chunky, Indian subcontinent-style pickle that is great with curries and rice dishes.

The oil has been left out for canning purposes, but if you wish, when you open a jar you may stir into it a tablespoon or two of peanut or other oil of your choice.

You can make the regular version (20 calories, 25 mg sodium per two tablespoons), or make it sugar and salt-free (17 calories, 6 mg sodium.)

The recipe

Jar size choices: ¼ litre (½ US pint / 250 ml / 8 oz) OR ½ litre (1 US pint / 500 ml/ 16 oz)

Processing method: Water bath or steam canning

Yield: 7 x ½ litre (US pint) jars

Headspace: 2 cm (½ inch)

Processing time: Either size jar 15 minutes

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Cauliflower pickle in hot peanut and sesame sauce

Yield: 7 x half-litre jars (US pint)

Course Pickles

Cuisine Indian

Keyword Cauliflower

Prep Time 1 hour hour 30 minutes minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes minutes

Total Time 1 hour hour 45 minutes minutes

Servings 7 half-litre jars (US pint)

Calories 17kcal

Metric - US Customary

Ingredients

• 100 g peanuts (shelled, roasted, unsalted. ½ cup / 3 oz before grinding. 12 tablespoons after grinding.)
• 4 tablespoons sesame seeds (40 g / 1.5 oz)
• 2 onions (medium. 500 g / 1 lb)
• 4 cloves garlic
• 15 chile peppers (dried. Any colour. Small, about 2 to 3 cm / 1 inch long.)
• 25 g ginger (fresh. 1 oz. A piece about 4 cm / 1.5 inches longer. About 20 g after peeling.)
• 2 kg English cucumber (4.5 lbs. weight before prep. 5 smallish to medium English cucumbers.)
• 400 g carrots (14 oz. Measured after prep. About 2 medium / 500 g / 1 lb before prep.)
• 500 g cauliflower (chopped into 3 to 6 cm / 1 to 2 inch. florets. About 5 cups / 1 lb)
• 650 ml white vinegar (5% or higher. 2 ½ cups / 20 oz)
• 200 g sugar (1 cup / 8 oz)
• 2 tablespoons salt (OR non-bitter, non-clouding salt sub)
• 1 tablespoon turmeric

Metric - US Customary

Instructions

• Grind the peanuts in a food processor, in a blender, or in a mortar and pestle. Put in a frying pan, add the sesame seeds, and lightly toast for a few minutes over a hot burner, tending it constantly so it doesn't burn. You just want to develop and release flavour. Remove from heat, set aside.
• Peel the onion, chop very coarsely or just into quarters. Put in food processor.
• Peel the garlic cloves. Add to food processor.
• Wash the dried chile peppers, remove stems, add to food processor.
• Peel the ginger root, chop very coarsely, add to food processor.
• Blend the contents of the food processor to a paste, set aside.
• You can make ahead a day before up to here. Just store the two items covered, separately, in fridge.
• Wash cucumbers, trim a thin piece off both ends. Do not peel. Quarter lengthwise, and using a spoon clean away and discard the seeds. Cut into batons about 4 cm (1 ½ inches) long. Put in a very large bowl.
• Wash the carrot, peel it. Slice lengthwise into long sticks, and cut into batons about the same size as the cucumber. Add to the cucumber bowl.
• Wash the cauliflower, chop it into pieces 3 to 6 cm (1 to 2 inches.) Add to the cucumber bowl.
• In a very large saucepan, at least 8 to 10 litre in capacity (8 to 10 US quarts) if not larger, put everything from the vinegar down to and including the turmeric. Whisk well.
• Stir the onion purée in to the vinegar mixture, and bring the pot to a full boil. Lower heat to a gentle boil and let boil uncovered for about 5 minutes, stirring frequently to prevent burning.
• Add the peanut mixture. Stir well.
• Add all the prepped veg. Raise heat back up and stirring frequently, bring the liquid back to a full boil. Then reduce heat to a gentler boil, and let cook for about 5 minutes, uncovered.
• Using a slotted spoon, fill your prepared jars with vegetable solids to within ½ inch (2 cm) of the top.
• Then, with a ladle divvy out the liquid into the jars, to cover the veg and still leave 2 cm (½ inch) headspace from the top of the jar.
• If you are short of pickling solution, just quickly zap some more vinegar in microwave, minding the surge effect when removing from microwave.
• Debubble, adjust headspace.
• Wipe jar rims.
• Put lids on.
• Process in a water bath or steam canner.
• Process either size jar for 15 minutes. Increase time as needed for your altitude.
• Best after at least a month.

Nutrition

Serving: 2g | Calories: 17kcal | Carbohydrates: 2.1g | Protein: 0.6g | Fat: 0.6g | Saturated Fat: 0.1g | Sodium: 6mg | Fiber: 0.5g | Sugar: 0.9g

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

• You can grind the peanuts coarsely or finely, but just don’t process them too long or you will end up with peanut butter.
• You could use cider vinegar or malt vinegar for different flavour (appearance will be darker.)
• Instead of the garlic cloves, you could use 4 teaspoons of minced garlic from a jar.
• Yes, you must peel the carrot.
• The average English cucumber weighs 300 to 400 g (10 to 14 oz). So, you want anywhere between 1.5 and 2 kg (4.5 lbs.) We say “smallish to medium” only because there are some giants out there as well now.
• You may use smaller jars but the processing time remains unchanged.
• If you run out of pickling solution, top jars up with more white vinegar that you have quickly zapped to boiling in the microwave (be careful of “surge” effect when removing from microwave.)
• Don’t try with cauliflower that has previously been frozen; the texture will come out too soft;
• Instead of the white refined sugar, you could use the same volume amount of Splenda® or 1 teaspoon liquid stevia.

Recipe source

Asian Pickle. Bernardin web site. (valid as of Aug 2016)

Achar (Asian Relish). In: Bernardin Guide to Home Preserving. Toronto, Canada: Bernardin Ltd. 2013. Page 88.

Achar (South Asian Pickle). In: Kingry, Judi and Lauren Devine. Ball / Bernardin Complete Book of Home Preserving. Toronto: Robert Rose. 2015, Page 233.

Note the Bernardin web recipe calls for only 500 ml / 2 cups of vinegar and specifies 7%. Other printings of this recipe call for 2 ½ cups, and just call for regular (5%) white vinegar.

Bernardin Complete says “This achar recipe was adapted from a traditional Indian recipe that required considerable quantities of peanut oil, nuts and other ingredients that would make it unacceptable for boiling-water processing. If desired, a small quantity of peanut or vegetable oil may be stirred into the product before serving to enhance the authenticity of the taste. We prefer the ‘lighter’ version produced by this recipe.” [Ed: mind you, it’s not as though they are going to say they ‘don’t” prefer it.]

Nutrition information

Regular version

Per 2 tablespoons / 30 ml:

• 20 calories, 25 mg sodium

Sugar and salt-free version

Per 2 tablespoons / 30 ml:

• 17 calories, 6 mg sodium
• Weight Watchers PointsPlus®: 1 to 2 tablespoons, 0 points; 4 to 6 tablespoons, 1 point; 8 to 12 tablespoons, 2 points

* 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.