A combination of most vegetables can be used for Piccalilli but root vegetables don’t tend to work very well.
Pick from cauliflower, crisp cabbage, celery, cucumber, courgettes, French and young runner beans, green tomatoes, marrow, peppers, pickling onions, shallots and sweet corn kernels.
These need to be cut into fairly small pieces (½”-1″/.1.25-2.5 cm).
This recipe is for about 3 – 4 lbs (1.4 – 1.8 kg) of Hot Piccalilli.
Ingredients for Hot Piccalilli:
- 3 lbs (1.4 kg)1-.25-2.5 cm) of prepared mixed vegetables
- ½ lb (225 g) salt
- 2 teaspoons turmeric
- 4 teaspoons dry mustard
- 4 teaspoons ground ginger
- 3 oz (84 g) white granulated sugar
- 1 pint (570 ml) white distilled vinegar
- ½ oz (14 g) cornflour
Method for Hot Piccalilli:
- Put the mixed vegetables in a bowl in alternate layers with the salt and leave overnight.
- Next day rinse in cold water and drain thoroughly.
- Put most of the vinegar into a pan and add the spices and sugar and bring to the boil.
- Add the vegetables and simmer the mixture until the vegetables are still crisp.
- Blend the cornflour with the remaining vinegar and stir into the vegetable mixture.
- Boil for 2-3 minutes, stirring gently.
- Pack the vegetables into hot, clean sterilised jars using a slotted spoon.
- Top up with any remaining sauce.
- Cover and seal immediately.
- Label once fully cool.
Tip: It’s better to use wide necked jars like the 1 lb (450 g) kilner type jars as packing them can get a bit messy!
For More Information on Pickles
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Pickles can range from a simple single ingredient pickle to a complex mixed pickle like Piccalilli. The final flavour, especially with the simple pickles, will depend heavily on the vinegar used. See our article on Making Spiced & Flavoured Vinegars,...
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Relishes tend to be half way between a chutney and a pickle in that, though they use the same kinds of fruits and vegetables, the finished texture is different. The fruit or vegetables are cut into small pieces or coarsely chopped and a combination of...
could you tell me please how long this needs to be left before it is at its best…many thanks
About 12 weeks. If you’re using cauli, it’s best to eat it between 3 and 6 months or they tend to get a bit mushy.
Hi, Is it normal for this to taste very salty when it has just been made, i tasted some of the sauce after potting and it was really salty. Have I done something wrong?
Thanks
How thoroughly did you wash the vegetables after layering in salt? This might be the problem.
Hi, Well I thought I had washed it fairly thouroughly, do you think it will fade or is it best to get rid now?
I’d leave it for 3 months and then taste again.
I found that trying to wash all the mixture together was insufficient, so I washed it by one hand-full at a time under the cold tap.I should have taste tested before I added the spices, because I too thought ahh it’s salty.However, I tasted the vinegar from the bottle and found that it does have salty undertones.The product tasted ‘thin’ but I suppose that’s why it’s left to mature.
Hi I did the recipe from womans weekly which is a toatally diferent method to yours Val, & it has turned out brilliantly, only prob was they didnt say how much cauliflower or vegetables to use so had to guess, luckily it has turned out very well it has made 4 small kilner jars full (approx 4lbs)
Hi, I am just about to make some picalli but after reading the comments decided to check the saltiness of the veg before going onto the next stage and I must admit it was very salty so after several rinses I decided to let the veg soak in cold water for a couple of hours which seems to have lost a lot of the salt. Will let you know how it turns out.
Well it’s been a couple of weeks now since I made the piccalilli and I can say it has turned out very well, by soaking the veg in water for a couple of hours I managed to remove enough salt to make the veg palitable, the other thing I did was added a small jar of silverskin onions sliced in half and that has worked extremely well too. I think if making this again I might just half the salt at the brine stage or rinse the veg after less time and maybe make a little more sauce as I only just had enough and would have liked just a little more. Anyway hope my observations may help.
Lynne
I’ve only found this site tonight – I can’t wait to make some piccalilli now! @Lynne – I like your idea of adding some extra silverskins – it’s because I’m doing my annual pickled onions for Bonfire Night that I am on here for some inspiration so I will be using my own pickled onions within the recipe and some extra chillies as I like Chillies. I’m going to try out the original recipe (if it’s v salty there are plenty of my family who heap salt onto there food so they may prefer it), the well rinsed version and finally my own version. Here’s hoping to some good butties!
Claire.
I prefer soaking overnight in cold brine, don’t get so salty.