Turmeric Cauliflower and Broccoli pickle
Cauliflower and broccoli are two vegetables that are always around, at least here in South Africa. They don’t appear to have much of a season, there is usually plenty of both in the shops, and they are mostly affordable. That makes them useful vegetables to have on hand when you want to pickle something without waiting for a particular crop to appear.
They also have a lot going for them nutritionally. Both are packed with useful vitamins, minerals and fibre, and broccoli in particular has a very good reputation as one of the vegetables worth eating regularly. They are also naturally low in carbohydrates, which makes them handy if you are keeping an eye on the waistline but still want something with plenty of crunch and substance.
And for the little people who seem to regard broccoli as something vaguely medicinal, pickling it might just help the medicine go down a little more easily. The sharp, slightly sweet brine changes the flavour completely, and the crunch makes it feel rather less like the vegetable they were planning to avoid.
I originally wanted to make this batch with garlic and fresh dill. The vegetable shop had other ideas and there wasn’t a sprig of fresh dill to be found, so turmeric and mustard seeds became Plan B. As it turned out, that was probably a better choice anyway — the turmeric gives the cauliflower a lovely yellow colour and makes the finished jars look bright and cheerful.
Ingredients
For this batch I used 361gm cauliflower and 216gm broccoli, but those amounts are not set in stone. The important thing is that I weighed the vegetables after removing the longer stalks, trimming anything untidy and giving everything a good clean. Which accounts for the odd weights.
It’s a good idea to weigh your veg after you’ve prepped them. The result gives you the weight you are actually going to pickle, rather than the weight you brought home from the shop.
For the brine:
2½ cups vinegar
2½ cups water
3 tbsp sugar
4 tsp salt
1¼ tsp mustard seeds
½–¾ tsp turmeric
½ tsp black peppercorns
2–3 garlic cloves, sliced
If you like a little heat, add a few slices of fresh chilli or a pinch of chilli flakes. I tend to be cautious as there are some family members who go pale at the taste of one flake of chilli. (that’ll be me actually) and some family members who eat jalapeño at every opportunity.
And if you can get fresh dill, I still think that would make a lovely alternative version. In that case, I’d leave out the turmeric and use garlic, dill and black pepper instead.
Getting the vegetables ready
The first useful lesson with this one is to prepare the vegetables before you decide how much brine you need.
Cut the cauliflower and broccoli into fairly even florets, trim away the long stalks, wash everything properly and then weigh it. Only then check the rest of your ingredients and decide how much pickling liquid to make.
Cauliflower and broccoli are awkward little things in a jar. They leave lots of gaps between the florets, so they can take far more liquid than you expect from their weight alone.
I discovered this the irritating way and ended up making extra brine several times over. In the end I topped up with plain water. Too much irritation. Will see how that works out.
It is far easier to make too much and ditch the little bit you don’t need than to stand there with half-filled jars trying to work out how much extra vinegar, water, sugar and salt to make. Yp, that was me. Going to save you that extra work.
Blanching
I don’t like vegetables in a pickle to be soft, but I also don’t particularly enjoy feeling as though I might lose a tooth. Broccoli cooks very quickly, so 1½–2 minutes in boiling water is plenty.
Cauliflower is denser and more compact, so I give that 3–4 minutes of cooking. It should still have plenty of bite when you drain it. But as with any recipe I publish, it’s really up to you cooks to decide what you like. Experiment. It’s fun!
The length of cooking matters because short refrigerator pickling does not really soften vegetables very much. The texture you put into the jar is more or less the texture you are going to eat a few days later.
At the end of the cooking spell, drain the vegetables really well before packing them into clean jars.
Making the brine
Put the vinegar, water, sugar, salt, mustard seeds, turmeric, peppercorns and garlic into a saucepan.
Bring everything to a gentle simmer for 2–3 minutes, just long enough for the sugar and salt to dissolve and the spices to start flavouring the liquid.
Pour the warm brine over the packed vegetables, making sure the content is covered. If you have a little brine left over, congratulations. That is exactly where you want to be.
Let the jars cool for a short while, close the lids and refrigerate. I’d give these 2–3 days before tasting them properly. The turmeric colour will deepen as they sit, and the flavour will work its way into the cauliflower and broccoli.
A little kitchen note
This is one of those recipes where the exact vegetable weight matters less than the method. Clean and trim first, weigh second, make plenty of brine, and don’t be afraid to adjust the flavour.
If you like sharper pickles, add a little more vinegar. If you prefer them gentler, keep the vinegar and water closer to equal amounts.
And if the vegetable shop ever has fresh dill, I’m still making that version too.
Final note
It’s taken me much longer to get my website up, organise myself and Larry (my ChatGPT slave) and get into an easier flow. Has off to the cooks who make wonderful videos, take amazing photos and appear to get things done with a hand tied behind the back. Your hard work makes it looks so easy. For folk who haven’t given it a try, it’s not easy. Lots to think about, try out and fiddle with before you can kind of get something out the door.
I’m still learning.
Anybody who can give me some useful feed-back, it’s absolutely welcome.
