Feijoa Pickle

Recently I was given a bag of feijoas by my friend  Michael. Feijoa can be an aquired taste and I admit it is not a favourite flavour, however, Michael assured me that it was good in chutney and gave me a recipe. I started to make the chutney and realised that I was getting low in my supplies of Brinjal Pickle and thought that the feijoas could be made into pickle instead. This style of pickle is Indian, very flavoursome and hot - perfect with vegetable dishes and curries. I know Michael has made chutney so hoping that we can trade.

Feijoa Pickle

Ingredients

2 kg Feijoa 2 tablespoons chilli powder 1 tablespoon smoked paprika 1 tablespoon hot smoked paprika 1 tablespoon turmeric powder 1 tablespoon  fenugreek powder 1 teaspoon mustard powder 1 tablespoon cumin seed powder 1 tablespoon cumin seeds 1 teaspoon ground black pepper

10 cloves garlic 2 tablespoons finely grated green ginger 10 green chillies, finely chopped 2 cups oil A few curry leaves, if available 2 cups brown vinegar 1 cup sugar 1 tablespoon salt Optional 1 tablespoon mustard oil

Method

Make spice paste by combining all spices, garlic, chillies and green ginger in a food processor and blitzing until a paste.  Alternatively, crush garlic, grate the ginger, finely chop the chillies and mix in all the spices

Remove the ends and skins of the feijoas. Cut each feijoa into halves or quarters and then slice into 1 cm slice.

Heat the oil in a large saucepan, add the spice paste mixture and curry leaves. Stir for a minute or two until fragrant but do not allow to burn.

Add the feijoas and cook, stirring occasionally until the feijoas are starting to soften. Add the vinegar, sugar and salt and continue cooking on a low heat until the feijoas are very soft and the mixture is thick. If mixture is evaporating before the feijoa are soft add a little more oil and vinegar.

When the mixture is thick, remove pickle from the heat and allow it to cool.

If using the mustard – heat oil in a small saucepan until hot. Remove from heat and carefully pour a little at a time into the pickle. Take care as it will spit. Mix mustard oil into pickle and leave to cool.

Spoon/ladle the pickle into sterilised jars. Seal.

This is the recipe that Michael sent.