Turshi
Turshi – it’s fun to say and fun to eat. The middle-eastern style pickled vegetables are a true party in your mouth. The tang of the vinegar combined with flavors of curry, garlic, coriander and turmeric add a bomb of flavor to any dish. Try it with kabob, lahm bi ageen, on sandwiches or even on salad. The recipe is fairly simple and quick to make, but of course you need a few days for the vegetables to pickle before eating. Everyone has their own signature spin on this staple. We’re sharing Ama Nezhat’s version. What a joy it was to quickly make the Turshi with her and then, while the vegetables began their pickling process, celebrate our success over a cup of tea? Her company and hospitality are like no other. Enjoy!
Turshi after sitting 3 days in the pickling solution. Combined and ready to eat. Look at that color!
Turshi
Ingredients
- 5 cups Water
- 1.5 cups Distilled White Vinegar
- 3 tbsp Curry Powder
- 1.5 tsp Ground Coriander
- .5 tsp Tumeric Powder
- 2.5 tbsp Salt
- 4 Whole Garlic Cloves peeled
- 1 head of cabbage small to medium sized
- 1 head of cauliflower small to medium sized
Instructions
- Prepare cauliflower (or cabbage or other vegtable(s) of your choice*) by removing core and stems creating florets (and wash thoroughly). Put florets in bowl and mix with 1 tbsp of salt. Cover the bowl and let sit for at least 30 minutes up to overnight, to allow cauliflower to soften. (If time allows, letting sit overnight is recommended).
- Once it sits overnight, add the salted cauliflower to your empty pickling container (minimum 30 oz container). Glass is recommended although you can use plastic.
- Add four peeled, whole cloves of garlic to the container.
- In a medium saucepan, add water, vinegar, curry powder, tumeric, ground coriander, remaining 1.5 tbsp of salt. Put saucepan on medium heat and allow solution to warm up, but do not make it to hot or allow it to boil. You should still be able to taste the solution without burning your tongue when you take it off the heat.
- Once warmed, add solution to container with cauliflower. Solution should cover at least 85% of cauliflower. If it doesn’t, make more solution.
- Cover container and keep in room temperature for 2-3 days before moving to the refrigerator. Shake up containers at least once a day to mix spices back into solution. Turshi should be ready to eat once chilled in the fridge. It can remain in the fridge to be eaten for a couple of months.
Notes
* You can repeat the process with any vegetables you like. Carrots, green beans, persian cucumber, turnip etc. You can even mix different vegetables in the same container before adding pickling solution if you have a container big enough.
