How to Make Lacto-Fermented Cauliflower Piccalilli
How to Make Lacto-Fermented Cauliflower Piccalilli
This recipe is perfect to fill a 1.5L Fido or Quattro Stagioni wide mouth jar (i.e. approx. 1.2 kg of vegetables). If using a different size jar alter amounts accordingly (800g vegetable per litre).
Ingredients:
400g thinly sliced cabbage
700g cauliflower (chopped or sliced with Mandoline)
1 large carrot in small dice or julienned
1 bunch spring onion, chopped, including all the green
1 small red pepper, in small dice or thinly sliced
Half a red chilli, de-seeded and chopped fine
2 teaspoons of yellow mustard seed
3 teaspoons turmeric powder or equivalent amount freshly grated turmeric roots
1 teaspoon nigella seed (also called black onion seed)
2 or 3 garlic cloves – finely chopped
18g – 24g finely ground pink Himalayan salt
Instructions:
Place the sliced cabbage in a bowl, sprinkle with the salt and mix through. Let it sit for 20 minutes to get the juices going and then give it a good massage. Add all the other ingredients, mix well and massage a bit more. You might want to wear gloves to avoid the turmeric staining your hands.
Pack your vegetable into your fermenting jar pressing down every handful with your knuckles or a mallet to exclude all the air you can. Don’t be tempted to over-fill your jar – there should be headspace of about 5 cm (2”) to allow for heaving of the ferment. If you overfill your jar you will risk turmeric brine overflowing and staining your bench top or your airlock. It is therefore a good idea to place a plate underneath your jar as an extra precaution. Your piccalilli does not need to be swimming in liquid as some additional brine will be produced over the first week. However, if you feel it is too dry you could add a small amount of 2% brine (5g salt per cup of water). Place a weight on top and close up your jar. It is always preferable to use a jar with a good airlock to provide a proper anaerobic environment. By doing so your ferment will be less at risk of kahm yeast and/or mould, you will not need to burp your ferment and you don’t need to stress over bits of vegetable which may float to the top. As with sauerkraut and other self-brining ferments, the brine levels may rise and fall during the course of the ferment but this is nothing to worry about. My golden rule is not to open the jar if using an airlock as this would defeat the purpose of using an airlock (i.e. to keep oxygen out). If you are not using an airlock and/or want to open your jar to taste as you go along then it is important to always ensure that there are no floaters and that the vegetable is submerged under the brine at all times. A weight or Viscodisc will be useful for this purpose.
How long you leave your piccalilli to ferment will depend on temperatures, amount of salt used, how finely chopped your vegetables are and how you want it to taste. The longer you ferment it for the more sour the taste will be. A good guide would be about 3 weeks and then place it into the fridge to cure for a couple more weeks (if you can wait that long!)