Description
A traditional Indian recipe for pickled red chili peppers, perfected over six years, featuring a blend of aromatic spices and tangy vinegar for a spicy, flavorful condiment.
Ingredients
Units
Scale
- 45-50 medium-sized red chili peppers
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 2 teaspoons fenugreek seeds
- 1 teaspoon nigella seeds
- 50 grams fennel seeds (approx. 2 oz)
- 50 grams coriander seeds (approx. 2 oz)
- 50 grams mustard seeds (approx. 2 oz)
- 1/4 cup salt
- 1/2 cup mustard oil
- 1 cup white vinegar
Instructions
- Thoroughly clean the peppers with water, pat dry them, spread it on a baking sheet or something similar and lay it out in open sun to dehydrate a little. 4-5 hours of nice hot sun or an hour in the oven at 170 deg. F should be just right. You just want the outer skin just to get a few wrinkles.
- Clean the jars you are going to use for canning and let them air dry as well.
- In a pan roast fennel seeds, cumin, fenugreek seeds and nigella over medium high heat just for 3-5 minutes until begin to smell the spices. Turn of the heat, set it aside and let it cool.
- Coarsely grind all the spices mix it with half (around 4 oz) of oil.
- To fill the peppers you can do it in two ways, either make a long slit lengthwise and fill it with the spices or chop the head off, take out the seeds from inside and then fill it with the prepared spices. I do the latter and I also mix the seeds I take out from inside of the peppers into the spice mix and fill it into the peppers.
- After filling the pepers you can either dip each pepper in oil and then place it in the jar or fill the jar with the stuffed peppers and then pour oil over it.
- Airtight the jars and store in cool, dry place.
- Every couple days shake the jars a little so the oil slowly coats all the peppers.
- You can dig into the pickles in a couple weeks time but ideal would be to open the jars not before at least a month.
Notes
Ensure the peppers are completely dry before stuffing to prevent spoilage. The pickling process can be accelerated by keeping the jar in a warm, sunny spot. Adjust the amount of vinegar and salt to taste. This recipe can be stored for several months if kept in a cool, dark place.
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 5 hours 30 minutes
- Category: Condiment
- Cuisine: Indian
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 tablespoon
- Calories: 10
- Sugar: 0
- Sodium: 290
- Fat: 1
- Carbohydrates: 1
- Fiber: 0
- Protein: 0
- Cholesterol: 0