What’s marinated meat or paneer without a dash of flavoured vinegar?! A chinese schezwan noodle would feel flat without a spoon of rice vinegar. A well-layered burger feels complete when a spoon of chilli flavoured vinegar sprinkled on the patty. Fresh garlic bread with cheese and Balsamic vinegar. There are so many cuisines using vinegar in one form of the other. It adds a dimension to the food unlike any other ingredient.
Vinegar to me is the dark horse of cooking. It enhamces the food in more ways than we can imagine.
It’s a colourless liquid which absorbs the flavours we induce into it. Being a versatile flavouring agent in cooking, vinegar was an accidental discovery several centuries ago – an unwanted byproduct of winemaking. The discovery of vinegar was seen as a disaster. Can you imagine the time where a street vendor was selling vinegar from a local vineyard coming door to door, trying to convince you to buy it? Vinegar making became a commercial product only from the 14th century. The unique cottage industry of vinegar making died a slow death. Industrialization killed individuality. A mass-produced white vinegar from Spain travels across the globe adding to the food miles and eventually gets consumed by me in India. A far cry from the vinegars purchased at a local vineyard.
Today, I am making a quick pickled chilli using White wine vinegar. I love the flavour of a white wine vinegar than a regular distilled vinegar as it is less acidic, and makes a great addition to sauces, salad dressing, and marinades.
Vinegar is also a great preservative. So pickling the chilli from summer in vinegar would keep it available in all seasons making all your foods taste exotic.
The recipe is very simple.
What you need ?
A clean dry bottle with a tight lid, preferably a non-plastic lid, White wine vinegar with at least 5% acetic acid. Note that I have used the Dolco Vita White Wine vinegar from Spain. Chilli of your choice. I used fresno chilli.
Generally pickling or bottling vegetables in brine would need using a water bath to seal the bottle. But any pickle which uses vinegar need not be sealed in a waterbath as vinegar does not allow any bacterial growth.
Pickled chilli
An easy pickled chilli recipe, a multipurpose add on for all your continental foods.
Ingredients
200 gms mixed chilli.
200 ml white wine vinegar.
350 ml bottle with a non corosive tight lid.
Directions
- Wash and wipe the chilli dry.
- Leave it on the counter top for 30 minutes to remove any existing moisture.
- Slice the chillies into rounds. Do use a kitchen glove for the hands to avoid the burning sensation afterwards.
- Place them in the dry glass bottle.
- Top it with vinegar till the chillies are drowned in it. 6.Store it in a cool dry place .
- It is ready to use after 15 days.
- Lasts for a year.
- Can substitute with any chilli of your choice or a combination of them too. I love the Jalapeno chillies, or a birds eye too.
Naturally Hema 