How to: make your own pickles

Pickles are great on a snack board or add freshness to a dish. With this basic recipe from Instock Cooking, you can make 1.5 litres of your own pickles in jars in under fifteen minutes. Good combinations include beetroot, cumin seeds and lemon zest, or carrot with coriander seeds. Of course, you can also make your own sour pickles with small cucumbers.

How to make them

• Put all the ingredients, except the vegetables, in a large pan and bring to the boil. Make sure the sugar has fully dissolved before turning off the heat. Don’t let it boil for too long, as the water will evaporate and change the balance of the mixture.
• Cut the vegetables to the desired size. If you want to keep the vegetables crisp, let the mixture cool first before pouring it over them later that same day. If you want them cooked, you can pour the hot mixture over the vegetables.
• You can eat the pickles immediately, but they taste best if you let them sit for at least a few days first. When properly pickled, they will keep for months.

Also read:

• The ultimate vinegar guide
• Brining chicken: why and how?
• Cucumber atjar