Piccalilli is one of those condiments you can add to ham, cheese, pork pies, sandwiches and many more. I love the sweet spicy hit of flavour and the crunch of the vegetables. You can also taylor it by choosing vegetables to your own taste. This recipe was based on Jamie Oliver’s and I just adjusted the vegetables slightly. A lot of piccallili recipes require 4 weeks before you can have some, yes it does get better with age but this recipe tasted yummy straight away so you can enjoy it any time.
Ingredients (makes 4 medium jar’s)
- ½ large cauliflower , cut into small florets
- 1/2 head broccoli , cut into small florets
- 1 fennel bulb , cut into small chuks
- 3 red chillies, finely sliced
- 200 g fine green beans , chopped into short lengths
- 3 banana shallots , cut into rings
- 4 tbsp fine sea salt
- 2 tablespoons mustard oil
- 2 heaped tablespoons mustard seeds
- 2 tablespoons ground cumin
- 2 tablespoons turmeric
- 1 nutmeg , grated
- 2 tablespoons English mustard powder
- 4 tablespoons flour
- 500 ml white wine vinegar
- 1 apple , grated
- 6 tablespoons sugar
- 3 cloves garlic , crushed
- 2 tbsp dried herbs ( I used herbs de provence)
- 4 bay leaves
Method
- Put all the vegetables in a bowl, add the salt and enough water to cover. Leave in a cool place for about 1 hour.
- Heat a saucepan big enough to hold all the vegetables. Add the mustard oil to the pan, then fry the mustard seeds, cumin, turmeric and nutmeg for a moment. Lower the heat, add the mustard powder, flour and a splash of vinegar. Stir well to make a thick paste. Gradually add the remaining vinegar and 100ml water, stirring all the time to make a smooth paste, it takes around 5 minutes for the flour to cook out. Add the grated apple, sugar, garlic, dried herbs and bay leaves. Cook for 2–3 minutes.
- Drain the salted vegetables and add them to the pan, stirring well to coat with the spicy paste. Cook for 10–15 minutes until the vegetables have just softened and started to release some juice, you can tell as bubbles form on the top. Spoon into sterilized jars and close the lids tightly
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