Pickled Apricots

Surprisingly good with smoked meats.

2 lb 4oz Apricots,

1Tbs whole allspice,

1 Tbs whole cloves,

1 blade mace,

1" cinnamon stick,

1Tbs Nutmeg,

12 fl oz wine vinegar or cider vinegar (cider gives a more 'spicy’ flavour)

1lb 2 oz white sugar.

Jars with wide necks.

Drop the apricots into boiling water for 1 minute, then take them out and drop into cold water, this will split the skin making it easy to peel.

Once peeled, drop the apricots into a pan and add the spices (tied into a muslin bag) then add all the remaining ingredients and bring to the boil for 5 minutes or until the apricots look transparent.

Remove the apricots and place them in the jars.

Reboil the syrup until it is very thick, remove the muslin bag containing the spices and pour the syrup over the fruit until covered. Tap the jars gently to remove any air bubbles.

Seal and label the jars.

 

Chilli Plum Sauce

You will need;

2 kg of ripe plums.

1.5 kg of onions.

4 fresh red chillies

1.5 cups sultanas.

50 g fresh ginger - grated.

1.25 ltr of white wine vinegar.

3 cups of brown sugar.

1 tbsp salt.

3 tsp dry mustard.

1 tsp ground allspice.

1 tsp ground nutmeg.

1/2 tsp ground turmeric.

Wash, halve and stone the plums, chop the onions and the chillies.

Combine the plums, onions, chillies, sultanas and 3 cups of the vinegar in a large pan and bring to the boil then simmer for 40 minutes. Blend the mixture in a food processor or with a whizz mixer and return to the pan.

Add the remaining vinegar, sugar, salt, mustard, allspice, nutmeg and turmeric, bring to the boil again and reduce to simmer for 1 hr or until the sauce thickens.

Pour into sterilised jars and label. Refrigerate after opening.

 

Spiced Figs

You will need 2 lbs of Fresh Figs from your garden.

In a preserving pan, put 20 oz of Demerara sugar and add 1/2 pt of vinegar, bring this to the boil slowly and add 1 Tbs ground cloves, 1 Tbs Cinnamon, 1 tsp ground mace, 1 tsp allspice.

Add the Figs, simmer gently for 1 1/4 hours then bottle in clean sterilised jars and label.

 

Lemon Pickle

Quite a fiery dish once matured soadjust the chilli accordingly. Store in sealed jars in a cool place. Keeping qualities vary, maturing in 2-3 months the pickle will keep for a few weeks once opened.

6 Lemons

1 large piece of ginger, finely chopped

15 green chillies, chopped

¼ tsp haldi / Turmeric powder

¼ tsp methi seeds

¼ tsp mustard

a small pinch hing / aesafoetida powder

2 tsp salt

2 tsp cooking oil

Method :

Cut lemons into small pieces placing them in a large bowl, add the salt and haldi, cover and leave aside for 4 to 5 days. Add the red chilli powder to this lemon mixture and stir. 

Add 2 cups of boiling water to the soaked lemon.

Fry mustard, hing, green chillies, and ginger in oil and add this to the lemon.

Grind roasted methi seeds in a pestle and add

when the lemon mixture is cool i.e. room temperature.

 

Horseradish Butter

Granny’s. Steady with the horseradish.

To serve with grilled steak.

Horseradish stick

3oz butter

1 tsp chilli vinegar

1 tsp lemon juice

pinch of cayenne pepper

After washing well, scrape (peel) a stick of horseradish and grate it into a basin and add all the other ingredients.

Pound the whole and press through a fine sieve onto a plate and allow to set.

 

Elderberry Chutney

Granny has a big star alongside this one and notes about 'good with duck'!

To every pound of Elderberries add: 

one shallot,

6 cloves,

1/4 oz ground ginger,

2 oz Demerara sugar,

3 oz raisins,

1 teaspoon salt, 

1blade of mace ( ground mace or nutmeg will do ) ,

pinch of cayenne pepper 

1/2 pint vinegar.

Rub the berries through a wire sieve (nb. wear gloves or they will turn your hands purple), chop the shallots finely and add all of the ingredients to the preserving pan, and let them boil for 10 minutes.

Take the pan off the fire, cover with a lid and leave to cool, then bottle the chutney into sterilised jars and label.

 

Green Tomato Pickle

Granny’s. We always had a mountain of green tomatoes to deal with - this is a good use for some of them.

5 lbs green tomatoes

1/2 lb chopped onions

1lb brown sugar

1 teaspoonful of cayenne pepper

half a teaspoon of white pepper

some grated ginger

3 or 4 chillies

pinch of ground cinnamon

one quart of malt vinegar

Slice the tomatoes and sprinkle them with salt between the layers, leave overnight to stand and drain in the morning.

Place the tomatoes in a preserving pan with all the other ingredients. Simmer gently for 2 hrs, stirring until tender.

Pot into wide-mouthed jars and label.

 

Lime Pickle

Very moreish with Naan or popadoms.

1 kg limes/ lemons

100 g cooking salt

500 g sugar

1 teaspoon cardamom seeds

2 teaspoons cumin seeds

Half a teaspoon cloves

Chilli powder as per taste required

75 g of grated ginger root

Fenugreek (methi seeds)

Mustard seeds

Generally thick-skinned and juicy lemons and limes are used for making pickle. The thick skin softens as the time passes and after about a month the skins become soft and the pickle is ready to eat. Keep the limes in a bowl filled with cold water. Soak the limes over night. Drain the water in the morning. This will make the limes clean as well as softer and tangier. After removing them from water, cut off the top and the bottom parts. Then either slice or cut quarters of the limes and sprinkle some salt on these cut pieces. This will ensure longer life of the pickle. To avoid bitterness of the pickle, the seeds must be removed. 

The next step in the recipe is to grind and mix the spices. Drain all the extra liquid from the limes but retain the juice that has been produced because of the sprinkling of salt. The liquid should then be placed in a large cooking pot for proper mixing of all the ingredients. Add adequate quantities of sugar and the ground spices. Bring the mixture to a boil. Keep stirring the mixture so that the sugar is dissolved. Boil this mixture for another minute.

Remove the pot from heat. Add the chilli powder to the mixture and stir well to evenly distribute it. Leave the mixture to cool. Finally add the limes and the grated ginger. Mix these very well.

Put the mixture into sterilized glass jars so that there is no contamination and the pickle lasts longer. Care has to be taken that there are no air gaps. Seal the jars properly. Leave the jars in warm places, such as window sills or balconies and terraces where there is ample sunlight, for about 4 to 5 days. The pickle is then ready to be stored and will be ready after 4 to 5 weeks.

 

Lime Chutney -nimboo chatni

You will need;

12 Limes -halved.

1 medium onion - peeled and quartered.

4 Hot green chilli peppers.

4 red chilli peppers.

1 inch of ginger root.

4 oz of seedless raisins.

7 cardamom pods.

1 tbsp Black peppercorns.

1 tbsp Coriander seeds.

1 tbsp Mustard seeds.

12 fl oz cider vinegar.

3 tbsp coarse salt.

1 lb light brown sugar.

Juice the limes and put to one side. Discard 6 of the lime halves and put the remainder in a food processor with green chillis, ginger, raisins. Chop finely.

Into a metal skillet put the cardomom seeds, peppercorns, mustard, coriander and red chilli - toast these for a few minutes but do not let them burn. Leave to cool then grind finely.

Combine all of the ingredients in a large non-metal bowl and leave to steep for 2 days, stirring daily.

Place the mixture in a pan, bring to the boil slowly and simmer for 30 minutes.

Pot into clean sterilised jars, seal and label. The chutney should be ready in 4 weeks.