Here’s How To Quick Pickle Veggies at Home 

Make the most of your lavish kitchen garden produce by pickling them

Thanks to the 2020 lockdown practically every third household has set up a kitchen garden either in the backyard or in the balcony and is proudly exhibiting its produce! 

Well let’s take you a step further and share with you how to add a master-chef feather in your gardener’s cap by pickling your veggies. A good question to ask here would be what veggies can be pickled? Well practically anything that catches your fancy; and specifically - beets, turnips, radishes, carrots, kohlrabi, jalapenos, broccoli, mushrooms, cucumbers, cabbages, onions, cauliflower, peppers, asparagus or green beans.

Before we embark on the pickling journey let’s first understand the difference between canning and quick pickling – albeit both pertain to preserving vegetables yet they’re starkly different. While quick pickling followed for all homemade pickle recipes entails brining and marinating and is valid for short term storage; canning calls for sturdier pickle brine and a hot water batch and facilitates long term storage but the method is a tad technical so let’s leave that to professional pickle producers!

Ingredients

Pickling Brine

Hot Water – One Cup 

Non-iodized Salt – Two Teaspoons

Vinegar Apple Cider/White Vinegar – One Cup

Now let’s take a look at the ingredients for the flavour i.e. the veggies -

Pickled Cauliflower

Whole Black Peppercorns – One Teaspoon

Garlic (Crushed) – Two Cloves

Red Pepper Flakes (Crushed) – A Pinch

Cauliflower (Chopped) – Two Cups

Pickled Green Beans

Fresh Dill– Five to Ten Sprigs 

Garlic (Crushed) – Two Cloves 

Green Beans (Trimmed) – 225 Grams 

Pickled Beets

Sugar – One Teaspoon 

Bay Leaf – One 

Garlic (Crushed) – One Clove

Beets (Cut Into Half-moons/Diced) – Two 

Method 

For the Brine 

• Heat water in the microwave or on the gas stove until steaming hot
• Stir in salt until dissolved 
• Stir in vinegar

For the Pickle

• Select your pickle flavour 
• Add all of the ingredients suggested above under your pickle flavour (beets, cauliflower or green beans) to a non-reactive (glass jar or ceramic) lidded container 
• Pour the brine over the ingredients and submerge them 
• Let this cool to room temperature
• Then seal shut the container and place in the refrigerator
• Let it pickle for at least one hour before demolishing it 

Important Pointers

• Use non iodized salt when pickling as iodized salt can make your pickled products turn a dark colour
• Store in the refrigerator for only two to three weeks

Do you still need to be motivated in order to get started on quick pickling your prized veggies? Hang on we’ve lined up some benefits of consuming quick pickle veggies vis-à-vis their off the shelf processed counterparts. As they are fermented at home they are guaranteed to be - probiotic; low on sodium; zilch when it comes to harmful elements like food dye, stabilizers and preservatives.

So make the most of the rich veggie produce of your kitchen garden and don your home chef mantle and prepare some tangy and absolutely delicious quick pickled vegetables!