I made chilli pickle, based on this recipe, found by Jonathan Kahn. It’s quick and simple.
Remove stalks and chop up 15-20 finger chillies (I used 10 and it wasn’t quite enough for the liquid ingredients).
Toast in a dry frying pan or skillet , for one minute, 1 teaspoon each of:
- cumin seeds
- black mustard seeds
- coriander seeds
- fenugreek seeds (the original said ¼ teaspoon)
- fennel seeds
- ajwain seeds
- I also put in caraway seeds before I realised that we had actual ajwain.
Allow to cool and grind to a powder in a mortar and pestle.
Put the ground spices into a jar with the chillies, 1 teaspoon turmeric powder, salt, the juice of one large lemon, and 2 tablespoons of vinegar.
Heat ¼ cup of oil (I used rapeseed oil, but I’m sure sunflower oil would be fine). When it’s hot, add a pinch of asafoetida. Cool the oil and then pour over the other ingredients. Mix well, put the lid on the jar. Leave in the warm for a day or two, then refrigerate.
You can eat it after a couple of hours, but it takes a few days for the full flavour to develop.
jeremykahn.co.uk 