Peter piper who picked the peck of pickled peppers surely will be changing his choices once he is tried out this green peppercorn pickle.
Why do pickles feature in traditional cuisines?
During the process of pickling the lactobacilli and other good bacteria found always on the surface of the plants are provided a medium to grow selectively over the decay causing ones. The bacteria work on the sugars going on the plants first converting them to lactic acid and stopping further spoilage.
Inteurn these bacteria are good for our body….. Good news here.
Further the fresh produce is being pickled and therefore locks in most of the antioxidants.
Pickles have also been discussed towards mineral content, fibre intensity , ulcer protection and more.
How much of a Peter Piper can one be?
Pickling is definitely a flavour enhancing process. Yet it need to be watched out to the excessive consumption.
The salt levels in a pickle will vary based on the type of pickle it is. So use it as a flavour enhancer and not a main part of your food.
The spices that are added to pickles can be irritating to your stomach lining if you are not used to them. So exercise caution while trying for the first time.
The pickles may trigger off acidity if consumed in excess.Do be mindful.
Take care to submerge the pickle in the brine as it will turn mouldy if exposed. Then it’s a waste of the whole process.
Back to pickling
With all the dos and donts ..i still like a small pickle piece on the plate when I serve my Indian meals.
This recipe is from the process I learnt from my mother. The pepper vines used to climb up the coconut trees in our backyard. The yield was quite large to harvest just as black pepper for a whole year. So the naive young peppercorns were quickly processed into a lemony brine. The rest go on to mature up into black pepper..
These pickled peppers were just the perfect accompaniment to many meals and salads neither too hot nor too salty.
I remember my mother meticulous remove all the stalks and use only the tiny beads. I kinda like to chew on the stalk too.. Which has also taken up the process well hence leave them on.
Don’t miss to scroll down to the notes at the end of the recipe to see how to preserve and use a pickle wisely.
I use this peppercorns not just as pickle with an Indian meal, but in my burgers, a few crushed with their juices in the salad as a dressing with some oil too. Try out your combinations too and let us know how yours are….
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Pickled peppercorns
Pickling the right way
Ingredients
- 1 kg green peppercorns fresh
- 1/2 cup cystalline salt Sea salt
- 10-20 lemon to juice, depends on the amount of juice you get from each
Instructions
- You will need clean sun dried or oven dried glass bottles with tight lids. so make sure you keep it ready.
- Pick the peppercorn and remove any unwanted sticks, or any debris
- Wash them by soaking in a bowl of water.
- Drain and pat dry thoroughly using a kitchen towel . leave it open for air drying any water remaining for a short while
- Cut the bunches into one inch long pieces.
- Put these into the bottle and add the crystalline salt.
- Squeeze the juice of ten lemon and pour over the pepper corn.
- If the lemon juice is enough to submerge the pieces of pepper then no more lemon is needed.
- If not, then squeeze in more lemon to nearly cover the peppercorns. This is the preservation. So, dont hesitate.
- Once this is done, close the lid tightly.
- Shake the bottle well and set it aside to start the pickling process
- Shake the bottle well everyday at least two times
- Open the bottle to begin using after one week of shaking and pickling.
- Use a clean, dry spoon to remove the peppercorns or they may get contaminated and become moldy.
- The pickle stays well for upto two years. ( dont skimp on the lemon)
Notes
As the peppercorns get used up and there is enough lemon juice left , use the juice to your salad to brighten up the flavors, mind the salt though.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
This pickle is new to me..would love to try out if I get chance to find green pepper corn at my place ????
Thankyou Poonam
This is a totally new recipe for me… always can count on you for some interesting ideas…
Thanks Rafeeda, I am sure you will easily find some when you travel homeward to Kerala
Such an informative post on do’s and dont’s about pickling, love pickled peppercorns but never knew it was so easy to make at home, bookmarking it will try soon.
Glad you like the pickling tricks… they have always been useful
I am imagining the taste of green peppercorns and lemon..drooling……….Would love to try this.
glad you like it… watch out for Nov- Dec season in South India. you should be able to find it in a few stores along with gooseberries.
Seema when I was at a boarding school in Mt. Abu, we’d always crave for some Gujarati food. Our Gujarati teacher was a Patel and he would get some theplas and green pepper pickle for us.. his wife would make them for us. Before we use to get lots of green pepper and I remember my mother in law pickling them. Nowadays don’t get them in the market.
Mt. Abu is one beautiful place. I: have been there as a teen as the memory is still vivid. green pepper is really an exotic one nowadays, but we have a home grown vine luckily.
I have tasted this once at a friend;s place.. Lovely share.
I hope you liked it when you tasted, Shobha.
A completely new recipe for me. I am sure it will be taste great. Bookmarking it to try later. Thanks for sharing.
great, let me know how you like it Sujatha
Seema, this is an informative post! Loved reading it. Couple months ago, when i visited Coorg, I saw these beauties bottled and being sold in shops. I wanted to do the pickling on my own, just like you but unfortunately, travelling with fresh ones is slightly risky as they tend to spoil fast so had to let go. Very happy to see this post and knowing that a fellow blogger has done good justice to such a wonderful produce.
Vidhya, you can safely keep the peppercorns for 3 to 4 days outside without any problems. They are pretty hardy and stay well. hope you can try it next time.
Never pickled green peppercorns like this, such a interesting way to conserve green peppercorns, lovely shar. Cant wait to give a try.
YES, it is a year-long one. great way to introduce it to children too with the mild very young ones which are not spicy.
This pickle sounds new and interesting recipe to me. I actually loved the versatile and authentic dish!!. Great share ????????
Thanks Jolly
So many times I have seen green peppercorns in the shops but never brought home as I didn’t know what to do with it. Now I know so next time it will be in my trolly. Such an easy recipe to follow.
Am so glad you like the recipe. glad to be the one to induce you to pick it up next time
Love the way you have included all the dos and dont’s . Such a detailed and informative post. Love the pickle recipe
Thanks Drashti, hope it helps you.
I’ve never had pickled peppercorns, it sounds very interesting, can imagine the flavor burst!
Its not onlt good with indian dishes but awesome in burgers and wraps or a bit on top of hummus… do try
Homemade pickle is always best! But I never did this pickle. Looks delicious and thanks for the tips too:)
Uma, my pleasure
It’s a beautiful, beautiful writeup, Seema! Thoroughly enjoyed reading it! I can feel you put your heart and soul into writing it ???? I agree pickling and making all fermented foods is more a survival skill than set of recipes that our ancestors discovered to keep their digestion healthy.
Wonderful guide to dos and don’ts.
Maria, am so glad you like it. yeah, this is one of my favourite posts too
Love the beautiful write-up Seema. I wish we could get fresh peppercorns so I would make this healthy and tasty pickle.
Can we use dry green peppercorns?
I have not tried dried green peppercorns, as I am not sure if they will hydrate well as a pickle. However coarsely ground dry pepper saturated in lemon with salt should really taste well.
Difficult to find fresh peppercorns; is it possible to use dehydrated green peppercorns?
Hi, I understand it is a difficult ingredient to procure. I have never worked with dehydrated green peppercorns. Based on what I understand about other dehydrated products, they do not rehydrate to the same softness. It is certainly worth a try, but cannot promise the absorption of lime and salt the same way as the fresh ones do. So try a small batch. If not so successful, grind up the soaked peppercorns and use as salad dressing, like we have in the kiwi salad.