Pickled Kohlrabi

It is no random chalk-it-to-bizarre phenomenon that there is a series of kohlrabi posts here. 'Tis the season. All of a sudden, these sprightly bulbs are everywhere. Well, not in my garden - yet - but, every other market I go to offers these quirky-looking bulbs practically free.

A couple of large bulbs, along with some okra, got pickled in vinegar for a quick snack.

Just a simple vinegar pickling that can be looked up on the web: equal parts white vinegar and water with some salt, simmered till salt is dissolved, plus some peppercorns, garlic cloves, dry red chilies, caraway, and dill weed. 

Pack a jar with kohlrabi batons and okra, pour the hot vinegar mixture, top with a kohlrabi leaf to keep it all submerged, then, allow to cool a bit, cover, and leave it in the fridge for a week or so for flavors to develop.

As for me, in about 4 or 5 days, I start dipping into the jar and snacking on these crisp tart little veggies. They are good additions to layered salads as well. Some chickpeas, come chopped pickled kohlrabi, some marinated beans all add up to a delicious salad.

A fantastic alternative to pickled baby cucumbers aka "pickles", these pickled kohlrabi batons are easy to make and fun to snack on. Of course, I had to throw in some okra as my daughter and I can't seem to get enough of pickled okra.

Wide Rice Noodles with Pickled Beets, Radish, Carrots

Sometimes the simplest of flavors give the most satisfaction. Pickled vegetables is an easy yet flavorful way of adding interest to everyday noodles. For a warm summer evening, cool wide rice noodles with chilled pickled vegetables is a treat.

Cook the wide rice noodles per package direction, drain and rinse in cold water. Then toss with some sesame oil and pickled vegetables; and serve with some extra pickled veggies on the side.

Radish, Beets, Red onions, Green beans, Shallots, White Home Garden Pearl Onions are a few of the usual veggies I pickle at home.

1. Combine 1 cup of vinegar (white, cider, champagne, rice, any combination) with ½ cup of water, bring to a boil; optionally, add any pickling spices (whole black pepper, dry red chilies, cloves, coriander)
2. Slice or cut veggies into preferred size and place in a canning jar; sprinkle some salt, a bit of honey if preferred
3. Pour the boiling vinegar solution onto the veggies in the jar till veggies are fully immersed; cover and allow to cool. Refrigerate after cooling for upto a week.

Sweet & Crunchy Walla Walla Pearl Onions

Being a casual dabbler in the home-gardening front, I periodically ask myself why do I want to grow what I am planting in my garden right now? Why this plant vs. that (for the annuals)? And there is usually no logical answer.

Some are my favorite (eggplant, chilies, green beans) and usually work out cheaper if successfully grown at home, some just don't grow in the native soil and weather, and some others (like tomatoes) I can them for the winter months knowing it is organic, pesticide-free.

Although potatoes and onions are dirt cheap almost year round, I still love the onions in my garden. And this is why:

1. it is the Walla Walla variety, which is less pungent, mildly sweet, crisply fresh and a bit more expensive than the regular yellow onions;
2.  I get to pick them young as Pearl Onions (not the true pearl onion variety, of course) and savor them in many recipes (Pearl onions can get quite expensive in my local markets); 
3. plus there's always plenty of scallions for garnish.

We've been harvesting the onions from the garden since last Spring, replanting some, saving the seeds from some and so on. The 7-year-old at home usually likes this job - to dig up onions from the garden - as long as I set the limit, say, "Fill up this basket" or "Get about 20 onions" or something specific.

When the onions refuse to grow, I guess it will be time to give up this addiction to the Sweet & Crunchy Walla Walla Pearl Onions and move on.

One of the recent batches became a delicious jar of pickled onions - vinegar, salt, a hint of sugar, some black pepper and dried red chilies: boil for about 5 minutes, cool and store in the fridge.

Preserved Lemons

Preserved vegetables, either pickled in brine/vinegar, or in spices and oil the Indian way, make a unique accompaniment to meals.

Spicy lemon pickle with chili and garlic is one of my favorites, next only to tender baby mango pickles.

Brined baby mangoes, brined citrons (narthangai) and lemons and limes, sometimes preserved in spices and oil, sometimes dried and packed in earthenware are intimately tied to some wonderful memories of my childhood. Narthangai Oorugai with plain buttermilk rice was a summer time favorite.

Anyway, those memories surfaced when I had preserved some lemons and forgot about them a couple of months ago. Now they are ripe and ready to be enjoyed.



Thin skinned lemons work well, but, I had these glossy yellow thick-skinned lemons, (and I prefer the softened preserved thick skin to the tangy mushy flesh), so, these worked out great. Spices can be varied to taste. Once opened, keep refrigerated.

Chop up and mix with rice or risotto; dice the preserved skin finely and use it to make flavored ghee or butter; or jab a fork on a chunk and enjoy it fresh as-is. The tangy saltiness, the mild sweetness balanced by the heat of the peppers, and the unique flavors of coriander, cinnamon, star anise makes this feel like quite an exotic dish.



Ingredients
6 medium to large lemons
3 or 4 Tbsp honey
2 cups salt
1 cup lemon juice
2 cups warm water (plus more for boiling water bath)
4 cinnamon sticks
1 Tbsp coriander seeds
1 Tbsp whole black peppers
6-8 dry red chilies (optional)
6-8 cloves of garlic (optional)
2 star anise (optional)

Preparation

1. Cut the lemon into chunks, pack in a jar sprinkling with salt generously between layers; add crushed coriander seeds and peppers and cinnamon sticks in between layers as well
2. Dissolve the honey in warm water, add it into the jar, along with lemon juice, cover tightly with a canning ring lid
3. Set up a boiling water bath such that the jar is at least half submerged in water, bring water to a boil, leaveit in the boiling water bath for 10 minutes, remove from heat
4. Set the jar aside in a cool dark place for about 4 to 6 weeks
5. Enjoy!

Tsukemono: Nasu Age-bitashi

Simply put, Tsukemono is Japanese Pickled Vegetables. When I got my very own copy of Quick & Easy Tsukemono as an early birthday present, I couldn't wait to try out a few right away.

Author's note in the Preface struck a chord with me, when he says, ...Japanese enjoy plain, hot rice with tsukemono. Coming from India, where pickles are of a different sort, yet enjoyed very much with plain rice and hot ghee, I could relate very well to the experience the author shared about the Japanese way of eating.

While Indian pickles typically involve using spices and oil, Japanese pickles are simple delicacies with mild rice vinegar, sake, miso, soy sauce and maybe some ginger root, karashi (hot mustard, japanese), Yuzu citron, ginger root and chilli peppers for extra flavoring.

Of the many recipes, I was attracted to this Nasu Age-bitashi (marinated eggplant) tsukemono as it was quick, (ready in 30 mins), delicate and light, and used one of my favorite vegetables - i.e., eggplant :)

Now, I have this chronic inability to follow recipe to the letter and like to substitute ingredients if I can't find the exotic ones listed. In that sense, this Nasu Age-bitashi is not exactly as given in the book... I tweaked it a bit as my recipes lean towards being fusion cuisine, not quite authentic, yet tailored to my tastes.

Also, many times, I wonder if authors would be charitable if their recipes are taken verbatim and pasted across the web for free - so, I refrain from posting them. I like to use recipes in books for ideas, for directions in which I can flex my culinary muscles, and try to take away the principles and methods and apply it for my tastes... in this case, I was glad to take away the fact that miso and rice vinegar make such an interesting clean-tasting pickle within a short time.

Ingredients
6 Japanese style eggplants
2 bell peppers -or- 3 jalapeños cored/seeded
1 medium tomato -or- 5 small grape or cherry tomatoes
1 small white onion
1 clove garlic
vegetable oil for frying
dressing/flavoring:
1 tsp red miso
2 Tbsp rice vinegar
4 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 tsp freshly cracked peppercorns

Preparation

1. Get the dressing ingredients together, stir well and keep handy
2. Cut the eggplant into wedges, bell peppers into rings, deep fry, drain and add to the marinade
3. Slice onions and separate into rings, chop tomatoes and toss into the marinade with the eggplant and bell peppers
4. Let it stand for 30 minutes and serve with hot plain rice

Pickled Vegetable Delicacies

Vegetables pickled in vinegar are a wonderful accompaniment to many foods and are handy to have when I want to make a quick and simple bento meal.

Ideally, I like them soaked for only about 2 to 6 hours, depending on the vegetable, and I like to use them up within a day or two of making them - before the veggies lose their crunchiness from all the pickling. Like, radish is ready within an hour of soaking, whereas, onions mellow and get less pungent and more tasty after about 4 hours or so of soaking, while carrots can take upto 6 hours before developing the way I like it.

The favorites that I make often are: little red radish, ginger, pearl onions and carrots. And, they keep well in the fridge for even up to a month.

Ingredients: sliced veggies of choice, plain white vinegar, whole black pepper or dry red chilies (or both), some salt.

Simply throw them all together, no need to cook them at all.

Of course, the Indian-style pickled vegetables in oil and spices remain one of my favorites to make and can for long-term use

Lime Chili Garlic chunky pickle

I love the Indian style pickles - spicy and packed in oil - served as a side with any meal. Over the years, having been disappointed by the taste of packaged pickles, I started making my own... especially since I found the Joys of Home Canning :)

Over summer, when our garden is bountiful, it is always fun to can away the fresh produce for those dreary winter days. But, the pantry always has a dozen or more jars of assorted types of pickles... well... pickling away, till ready for consumption, pretty much year-round.

The only two kinds of pickles I absolutely relish and cannot make myself at home are: Spicy Mahali/Mahani pickle (a type of strong flavored root made into a pickle), and Tender Baby Mango Pickle (Kadugu Manga). My mom used to make these just the way I love them and the flavors still linger in my memory to-date... so, these are the two kinds I end up buying at the store to satisfy my cravings on and off...

At any given time, there would be Chunky Mixed Vegetable Pickle, Lime Pickle, Chunky Lime+Chili+Garlic Pickle, Spicy Chunky Garlic Pickle, Mild (Spreadable) Garlic Relish, Tomato Thokku, Chilli Thokku (green or red chilies) , Ginger Thokku, canned and labeled with the dates, patiently aging away in the pantry waiting to be consumed when ripe and ready :)

The picture above is that of lime+chilli+garlic pickle at the beginning of the process - I just dished some out for the picture... but at the end of the process, before it is ready for canning, they lose their rawness and are well sautéed and wilted. And finally, after maturing for about 8-10 weeks, the lime is soft and fork-tender, the flavors mellow and well-blended, looking absolutely irresistible.

Usually, it takes about 4-6 weeks for them to sit undisturbed so they can mellow out a bit and the flavors can meld before they can be relished.

Since I don't have an exact recipe and each batch of pickle turns out slightly different from the others depending on my mood and ingredients handy, I thought I should record the general procedure here rather than specifics. Sometimes the vegetables are diced nicely, sometimes they are ground to a fine paste (like for the thokku), sometimes they are minced (like for my garlic relish) and sometimes I like to leave them as large chunks...

Ingredients:
Lime
green chilies
garlic
salt
oil
extra hot dry red chili powder
toast: small amounts of mustard seeds and fenugreek seeds, and grind them to a coarse powder
hint of brown sugar (optional)

Preparation:

• heat adequate amount of oil (can add more as needed later)
• add the lime, chilies and garlic, plus the spices, sauté and let it cook on medium low heat till well softened
• add a little oil at a time so the pickle is not too dry, stirring often
• when oil starts separating and is no longer "absorbed" into the dish, taste and adjust flavors
• can them if making a large batch OR just store them in an air tight container in a cool dark place to age a little
• if not canning, allow to cool a bit before storing in an airtight container

Japanese-style cucumber, broccoli miso pickle

I use a lot of broccoli florets for my vegetable dishes and end up collecting a lot of unused stalk. I never throw them away. I just remove the outer woody skin, trim the stalks to remove any branches and throw them in a zipper lock bag and keep it handy to use in sambar, or sometimes just sauté them with the veggies, or sometimes, make this Japanese-style miso pickle.


This recipe is from Emi Kazuko's book, with slight modification.
Ingredients:
1 cup miso
1 Tbsp sake (or, plain white vinegar for its tang)
3-4 cloves of garlic, crushed
3-4 Serrano chilies, sliced or diced fine
3-4 broccoli stalk/stem (use florets in another recipe)
1 large cucumber
¼ tsp sesame oil (optional)
¼ tsp dry red chili flakes
1 tsp sushi vinegar (or, just plain rice vinegar and some sugar to desired sweetness) - optional

Preparation:

1. peel the cucumber every few centimeters or so to get a striped exterior; cut in half lengthwise and remove the inner pulp and seeds, cut into about 3-4" pieces; set aside
2. remove the outer skin of broccoli stem, trim the branches if any, and cut them into longish strips about 3"4" long; set aside
3. mix the miso, garlic, sake and chilies, keep handy
4. in a container, spread some of the miso mixture, lay the cucumber and broccoli stems in a single layer, add another layer of miso, and layer some more cucumber and broccoli stems; keep layering in this manner, top with miso mixture, cover and refrigerate for 5-7 days
5. remove from fridge, wash off the miso from the cucumber and broccoli stems thoroughly, pat dry
6. cut the cucumber into half-moon slices; arrange the pickled broccoli sticks and cucumber in a serving plate
7. whisk the dry red chili flakes, sesame oil and sushi vinegar, pour over the veggies and toss lightly; serve cold

Alternately, I sometimes skip step 7 above, sprinkle some dry red chili flakes and enjoy with some Indian style plain yogurt rice. The saltiness and tang and the bite from the chilies complement the plain yogurt rice really well.