Pickles are a great way to add flavor to any meal. They can be easily prepared at home and stored for long durations.
Christmas meals and dinners are famous all over and people love to indulge themselves in gourmet food and different cuisines. Menus are planned well in advance and their preparations are made accordingly.
Pickles are also popularly consumed along with various types of food. Let us look at a few recipes on how to prepare them at home to add a different taste to your meals.
Cucumber Pickle
Ingredients:
5 pounds, cucumber (cored; peeled)
2 cups, pickling lime (mixed in 2 gallons of water)
1 small jar, powdered alum (mixed in 2 gallons of water)
2 ounces, powdered ginger (mixed in 2 gallons of water)
Vinegar and water (3 parts each; mixed)
5 pounds, sugar
1 whole cinnamon stick (4 inches)
5 whole cloves
Green/red food coloring
Preparation:
Cut the cucumbers into rings or strips.
Soak them in the pickling lime water for 24 hours.
Then, take them out and soak them in the alum water for 24 hours, and in the ginger water for another 6 hours.
Drain the excess liquid.
Take a large saucepan and add the cucumber, sugar, vinegar-water solution, cinnamon, and cloves to it.
Add 3-4 drops of coloring to the saucepan. (Choose either of the colors)
Boil this mixture for half an hour and pour the contents into a jar. Shut the lid tightly and store the pickle.
Dill pickle
Ingredients:
1 gallon, whole dill pickles
A head of garlic (peeled)
1 cup, granulated sugar
5-ounce bottle of Tabasco sauce (regular)
1-ounce bottle of red/green food coloring
Preparation:
Drain the pickles and rinse the gallon jar.
Slice them into rings.
Put them in the jar; add garlic and sugar to it.
Empty the Tabasco sauce into the jar. Add the food color to it.
Screw the lid tightly and shake the jar.
Store it in an icebox and shake it daily to mix the ingredients and dissolve the sugar.
The pickle will be ready in a week.
Cauliflower Pickle
Ingredients:
1 quart, vinegar
2 tablespoons, mustard seed
1 cup, sugar
8 whole cloves
4 cinnamon sticks
2 heads of cauliflower
Preparation:
Take all the ingredients except the cauliflower and simmer for 15 minutes.
Wash the cauliflower and break them into florets; parboil them.
Drain the water and put the florets into jars. Fill the jars with the strained hot syrup. Screw the cap tightly.
Pineapple Pickle
Ingredients:
1 can, pineapple (diced)
1 pint, pickled pepper (whole green and red)
1 pound, figs (quartered)
2 cups, vinegar
1 pound, whole pickles
1 cinnamon stick (3 inches)
1 cup, seedless raisins
2 cups, granulated sugar
20 whole cloves
Preparation:
Take a large saucepan; add the pickled pepper, figs, vinegar, whole pickles, cinnamon, cloves, raisins and sugar to it.
Pour water till the level of the contents and boil for 10 minutes.
Take a big jar; put the diced pineapple into it along with the boiled mixture and screw the lid.
Store this for several days in the refrigerator before serving.