Regency Dish: Indian Pickle

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19th century stone pickle jars

19th Century Stoneware Pickle Jars

Pickling has long been a popular method for food preservation.  Today we present two receipts for “Indian Pickle” which is a collection of vegetables, primarily cauliflower, in a tangy brine.

To make India or Indian Pickle Take a gallon of the best vinegar and half a pound of the best Durham mustard which is to be made up with a suitable quantity of cold vinegar and put into the rest boiling one ounce of cloves half ounce of mace half ounce of black pepper and half ounce of white pepper half ounce of ginger half ounce of long pepper two dramchs of cayenne pepper pods should be added this must be suffered to become quite cold before the substances to be pickled are put into it Get the best little hard knots of cabbage you can cauli flowers young carrots very small French and kidney beans young hard apples radish pods and shalots these can be obtained at the same time and put into the pickle other things to be added as in season such as small onions cucumbers vegetable marrow These should be prepared for the pickle in the following manner A brine is to be made strong enough to bear an egg in which all things to be pickled are to be previously boiled then taken out spread upon a clean cloth exposed to the sun and air till dry from the brine no wet must be suffered to come upon them then put into the cold pickle and tie down close If kept for two years before used so much the better though it will be a good pickle use it as soon as you will The onions garlic and shalots are not to go into the brine but to be skinned clean put into a colander aud a sufficiency of salt put unon them to extract the juice the cucumbers need not put into the brine but a little of
it be poured upon them of other things a different time is to be observed in the boiling cabbages longest radish pada a short time & c Now if any person will be at the trouble of carefully making this pickle they will be well rewarded for their pains as such can and do testify as have used the same Another way This a general hodge podge pickle of all the common green and white pickles to which the currie flavour and tawney currie tinge is given Prepare the pickle liquor thus To every two quarts of the best vinegar put an ounce and a half of white ginger scraped and sliced the same of long pepper two ounces of peeled shalots one of peeled garlic an ounce and a half of salt an ounce of tumeric a little cayenne and some flour of mustard Let this infuse in a close jar set in a warm place for a week and in the meanwhile have ready a white cabbage sliced cauliflowers cut in neat branches white turnip radishes young French beans sliced cucumbers button onions and codling apples a large carrot cut in round slices nicked round the edges Sprinkle all these things with plenty of salt mixing it well with them in a large earthen vessel or pouring scalding brine over them Let them lie for four days turning them over and then take them up wash them in vinegar and dry them carefully with a cloth and afterwards lay them on sieves before the fire turning them over till thoroughly dried Next day place them either in a large stone jar or in smaller jars and pour the cooled pickle over them The jars must be well stopped This pickle keeps a long time and for the first two years will improve by the keeping The vegetables do not come in all together but they may be prepared as for pickling and added to the general pickle as they come into season This pickle looks more attractive if the French beans small whole cucumbers or melons are greened before they are put to it as directed in other recipes When the melons or cucumhers are greened cut a slit in the side and scrape out the seeds Shoots of green elder are also put to this pickle in imitation of the Bamboo of the genuine Mango pickle Instoad
stoad of being laid in salt the vegetables may be parboiled in very strong brine by which means the pickle will be sooner ready but the colour and crispness will be injured though for ease of preparation and safety in eating parboiling is by some persons esteemed the preferable method Another way Lay a pound of white ginger in water one night then scrape slice and lay it in salt in a pan till the other ingredients shall be ready Peel slice and salt a pound of garlic three days then put it in the sun to dry Salt and dry long pepper in the same way Prepare various sorts of vegetables thus Quarter small white cabbages salt three days squeeze and set them in the sun to dry Cauliflowers cut in their branches take off the green from radishes cut celery in three inch lengths ditto young French beans whole likewise the shoots of elder which will look like bamboo Apples and cucumbers choose of the least seedy sort cut them in slices or quarters if not too large All must be salted drained and dried in the sun except the latter over which you must pour boiling vinegar and in twelve hours drain them but no salt must be used Put the spice garlic a quarter of a pound of mustard seed and as much vinegar as you think enough for the quantity you are to pickle into a large stone jar and one ounce of turmeric to be ready against the vegetables shall be dried When they are ready observe the following directions Put some of them into a two pound stone jar and one quart of boiling vinegar Next day take out those vegetables and when drained put them into a large stone jar and builing the vinegar pour it over some more of the vegetables let them lie a night and do as above Thus proceed till you have cleansed each set from the dust which must inevitably fall on them by being so long in doing then to every gallon of vinegar put two ounces of flour of mustard mixing by degrees with a little of it boiling hot The whole of the vinegar should have been previously scalded but pour over them
If at any set to be cool before it was put to the spice Stop the jar tight This pickle will not be ready for a year but you may make a small jar for eating in a fortnight only by giving the cauliflower one scald in water after salting and drying as above but without the preparative vinegar then pour the vinegar that has the spice and garlic boiling hot over time it be found that the vegetables have not swelled properly boiling the pickle and pouring it over them hot will plump them Another way Take one hard white cabbage two cauliflowers one stick of horseradish cut in slices two dozen of small onions a dozen heads of garlic put them in boiling salt brine twelve hours mix a sufficient quantity of vinegar to cover them with three spoonfuls of turmeric two spoonfuls of mustard in powder one of cayenne pepper two of allspice and whole pepper and three blades of ginger cut add the ingredients all together cucumbers in slices gherkius French beans capsicums that have been pickled are to be added in equal quantities It is always necessary to pickle the green articles by themselves as they do not get a good colour in the cabbage pickle The Cook’s Complete Guide on the Principles of Frugality, Comfort, and Elegance (1810)

 

Indian Pickle Pick large fresh cauliflowers in the month of July into small pieces wash them clean put them into a pan with plenty of salt over them for three days then drain and lay them separately to dry in the sun repeatedly turning them till almost brown which will require several days Then put plenty of whole ginger slices of horseradish peeled garlic whole

pepper peeled eschalots and onions into salt and water for one night drain and dry them also and when the ingredients are ready boil more than a sufficient quantity of vinegar to cover them and to two quarts of it add an ounce of the best pale turmeric and put the flowers and the other ingredients into stone jars pour the vinegar boiling hot over cover them till the next day then boil the pickle again and the same on the third day after which fill the jars with liquor cover them close with bladder and white leather and get them in a dry place The following articles may be pickled in the same way white cabbage cut into half quarters whole French beans heads of celery heads of asparagus onions whole or sliced or pickling melons peeled thin cut into halves and formed like an Indian mango The Housekeeper’s Domestic Library; Or, New Universal Family Instructor in Practical Economy (1805)

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