Summer is here and I'll soon have a glut of fresh produce - tomatoes, chillies, cucumbers, courgettes, beans and many more. Have you got recipes that will make pickles etc that will keep for months?

Hi Zagar

Put pickles in the search window, you will get all the recipes on this site. You can also find recipes here for tomato ketchup and various chutneys and sauces.

Mamta

Hi Mumta,

Thanks for your quick reply. My thoughts were to make pickles that would last for months, thus I could even give them as presents over the winter months. I've had a look in your search machine which gives a lovely recipe for Lemom/Lime pickle in oil. Would Is this recipe translate equally well for other fresh products?

Regards,

Zagar

Hello zagar

There are many chilli pickles on this site, all oil/vinegar based ones last at least a year, usually longer.

Tomato chutney 2 will last for months in the fridge, but I have not tried keeping it on shelf. If you increased the amount of vinegar (400-500 ml. vinegar to a kilo of tomatoes approximately) and sugar (200 gm to a kilo), cooked it well to a thick consistency and bottled in sterilised jars, I don?t see why it won?t keep.

I am sure that Aubergine pickle recipe will work for courgettes. They will of course need very little cooking.

Most vegetables can be pickled using the mustard seeds and oil method, see Pickle, Basic Recipe .

Though I have not tried the lime pickle recipe with other vegetables, I am sure it will work. You may need to either increase mustard seed quantity or add lime juice to get it tart. There are hundreds of different ways vegetables are pickled in India, it is impossible get everyone?s recipe, though I do try ;-)! If your new trial are successful and you get good results, feel free to send your recipes with good pictures. I might be able to add them here, under your name of course!

Mamta

Greetings Mamta

I had a surplus of lemons and limes given to me and I attempted the above recipe. Although I think I followed your recipe to the letter it did not quite turn out as expected. I have left it for 4 weeks and to my disappointment it tastes quite bitter. Any suggestions about where I might have failed and is there anything I can do to make it more palatable before I bury it in the garden!

Cheers

Hello JL

Did you follow the 'Basic Recipe for Pickling Vegetables Indian Style'? This one is not for lemons, it is for vegetables. Mustard seeds are to give the vegetables a 'tart' taste as it matures, which lemons do not need, because they are quite sharp already.

You have 2 options;

1. Leave it on a window sill until the skins soften.

2. Microwaving it on full for a 4-5 minutes (for 1 kg.) and see where it takes you.

Mamta

Thanks Mamta, I will leave it on the windowsill for a few weeks and see what happens.

Cheers

JL