Piccalilli

By salting the vegetables first, you ensure that they remain crunchy when cooked. Makes around three 340g jars.

Ingredients

1 small cauliflower, broken into small florets, large stalks discarded (about 500g)

½ cucumber, peeled, quartered, deseeded and chopped (about 250g)

2 onions, peeled, halved and thinly chopped (about 200g)

2 medium carrots, peeled and cut into small chunks (about 130g)

About 50g fine sea salt

500ml cider vinegar

250g sugar

2tsp mustard powder

½ tsp turmeric

½ tsp ground ginger

½ tsp crushed cumin

½ tsp mustard seeds

¼ tsp grated nutmeg

1 good pinch chilli flakes

1 good pinch cayenne pepper

Freshly ground black pepper

2 tbsp cornflour

Put the prepared vegetables into a large bowl, sprinkle over the salt, stir, cover and leave to stand in a cool place, ideally for 24 hours or at least overnight. The next day, rinse with iced water and pat dry.
Over a low heat and stirring all the while, warm the vinegar, sugar and spices in a large, stainless-steel pan or preserving pan until the sugar dissolves. Increase the heat, bring to a boil, then season generously with pepper. Add the vegetables, bring up to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer, uncovered, for 10 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat.
In a small bowl, whisk the cornflour with some of the hot cooking liquid until it makes a smooth paste, then stir it back into the piccalilli mixture. Bring up to a boil and simmer for five minutes.
Transfer to warm, sterilised jars and seal with vinegar-proof lids. Wait for about a month before using. It will keep for around nine months. ·