Pickled Mustard Greens

BY DRSAILA · JULY 3, 2015

I like to pickle vegetables with brine. Pickling in vinegar is easy, but not as healthy as lacto-fermentation or natural fermentation with brine. We all know that mustard greens rank high on the list of detoxifying and cancer preventing vegetables. It is because of their pungent and peppery taste, not many of us incorporate these greens in our diet.

My friend suggested this recipe when I was looking for healthy ways of consuming mustard greens. Thank you Quynh.

Pickling mustard greens preserves their nutritional value. Nutrients in mustard greens are more bioavailable when you pickle them and you are getting probiotics as well.

This is a very easy and a must learn recipe.

Ingredients:

• 1 bunch of mustard greens (about 4 lbs.)
• Water, 10 cups
• Sugar, 2 Tbsp.
• Sea salt, 3 tbsp.
• Sweet rice, 3 Tbsp. (you can use any rice if you don’t have sweet rice)

Preparation:

• Clean mustard greens.
• Cut them into bite size pieces and dry them out in sun for 6-7 hours or in dehydrator at 120F for 2 hours, or in oven at lowest temperature until the leaves are dry.
• Once leaves are dry, fill them in a 2-3 quart Mason jar or any glass container.
• Take 3 tbsp. of rice, sugar, and sea salt.
• Take a pot, add 8 cups of water and whisk the above ingredients for a minute and boil. When it comes to rolling boil add this to mustard greens in the glass container when it is hot.
• Fill it until all mustard greens are submerged in water. Close the lid and store at room temperature for average 4-5 days. Fermentation time varies depending upon the ambient temperature; 3 days in very hot weather and 7 days in cold winter weather.
• These pickled mustard greens are used as a Condiment It is a Probiotic side dish. Great addition for salads, sandwiches or wraps.

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  FYI:

• Adding rice water helps with fermentation process.
• Drying mustard greens makes them stay green and crispy.
• Adding chopped scallions to mustard greens makes it even healthier.
• Fermented mustard greens are used as filling in popular Japanese dish Ongiri (Rice balls filled with pickled greens, wrapped in seaweed)

Ingredients:

• Bottle gourd, peeled, deseeded and finely cut (no need to deseed if it is young and tender vegetable)

• Tamarind, lemon size

• 2 cloves of garlic

• Green chillies, 10

• Celtic salt(rock salt,) 1 tbsp

• Cumin or Jeera, ½ tsp

• Mint or Cilantro, a handful

Seasoning:

• ½ tsp of mustard seeds, ¼ tsp. of cumin(jeera), 5 methi seeds,

• Curry leaves one twig,

• Pinch of asafoetida powder.

Preparation:

• Soak tamarind in just enough hot water to dip it, remove the piths and seeds and extract thick tamarind juice.

• Add this to green chillies, garlic, Cilantro, Jeera, salt and blend it in coffee blender. Add this mixture to finely cut bottle gourd pieces.

• Let the flavors blend in at least for a day.

• Seasoning is optional. Season after it is marinated at least for a day.

• Keep it in fridge while it is marinating before seasoning. It lasts for 2 weeks in the fridge.

• You can just add 2 tbsp. of raw, cold-pressed olive oil instead of seasoning, if you want to have this item raw.

Uses:

• Have it with steamed rice.

• Use it in Sandwich.

• Add it to salads.

• Top veggie burgers with relish and sprouts.

Ingredients:

Cayenne pepper 5 tbsp

Chili powder or red pepper flakes 3 tbsp

Black pepper 3 tbsp

Onion powder 3 tbsp

Garlic powder 3 tbsp

Thyme 1tbsp

Basil 1 tbsp

Salt – 2 teaspoons or less

Mix all ingredients. I use this for several recipes as a rub or use after cooking. Use salt to your liking. This usually does not need that much salt. When you use this seasoning you don’t need salt or cut down on salt in your recipe. You can skip chili powder if you don’t like it spicy.

Tips:

• You can mix this with breadcrumbs and use it for coating for veggies like broccoli or cauliflower.
• You can season pasta.
• You can mix a little Italian seasoning instead of herbs for slightly different flavor

Recipes:

Stuffed mushrooms, Cajun broccoli or cauliflower, Cajun Pasta, Cajun boiled peanuts

Ingredients:

• Broccoli, cut into florets, 1 cup
• Onion, ½ medium size, diced
• Coriander(cilantro), 1 bunch, use only leaves and tender stems
• Dry coconut powder, 2 tbsp.
• Tamarind, small piece to give 1 tbsp. of thick paste
• Ginger, 1 small piece, chopped
• Red chillies, 4 add more if you want it extra spicy 
• Mustard seeds, asafoetida, curry leaves, urad dal for seasoning

Preparation:

• Soak tamarind in warm water for about ten minutes, remove seeds, if any.
• Heat one tbsp. of oil in a pan, lightly fry urad dal, ginger and red chillies. Now add broccoli and onions, sauté for another 5 minutes. Add coriander and sauté just for one more minute.
• Transfer this to a plate and let it cool down.
• Blend broccoli mixture with tamarind and coconut powder.
• In the same pan for seasoning add one more tbsp. of oil and add little bit of mustard seeds, after they splutter add asafoetida and urad dal and few curry leaves.
• Add seasoning to the broccoli chutney. Seasoning is optional. Any chutney will taste good even without seasoning.

Uses:

• This chutney is versatile. You can use it for Idlis and Dosas.
• Use it in wraps to spice them up. Make Roti-broccoli wraps.
• Use it in sandwiches
• Have it with steamed rice
• You can also make green rice with this chutney.

Ingredients:

• Ridge gourd (beerakaya in Telugu, Turai in Hindi), 1 medium size, cut into 3 -4 inch pieces.
• Green chillies, 5-10, small sized
• Tamarind paste, 1 tbsp
• Tomato, 1 medium size, diced

Preparation:

• In a thick bottom pan heat 1tbsp of oil and one tsp of mustard seeds, 2 tbsp of chana dal and 2 tbsp of urad dal, 1 tsp of cumin, 2-4 red chillies, 1 tbsp of coconut(optional).
• Curry leaves and hing are optional for seasoning.
• Fry Ridge gourd in 1 tbsp of oil till soft, then add green chillies, pinch of turmeric, tomato pieces and fry for 5 minutes. Add tamarind and salt as needed. You can skip tamarind if you don’t like it sour.
• Grind them into coarse paste.