Saru awsome Preservation recipes

Hi, guys welcome to my second blog!

Today I will be sharing two of my recipes for pickling and fermentation.  pickling and fermentation as you guys know have been done for thousands of years as the mean of persevering and enhancing flavors. Both methods involve time and duration as the main part of the process, and some longer than the other depending on the intended product. All around the world people incorporate these techniques and can vary by different regions, but none the less everybody uses it.  Even common things like when you eat a hamburger for lunch, the bread or the pickles on it has been fermented or preserved. In my household, we make this traditional recipe from back home that is similar to roti but thinner and batter like that taste great with chutney. it is super easy and takes one night of preparation to make. Let’s assume you want to have this dish for breakfast then you can get mixture done the night before so it has enough time to fermentate.

here we go…

So we start by taking 2 cups of all purpose flour (rice flour could be substituted if gluten allergy). Then 1 tablespoon sea salt and 2 teaspoon turmeric powder for color and taste.mix all the dry ingredients thoroughly and now comes the hard part, add 500ml of hot water and stir with hand. Try to avoid too many clumps. I say it hard because it is never perfect so according to the texture add more water to get the desired batter like texture. You don’t want it to be too watery or too thick! now that’s done all we do is blend it in a blender for 60 seconds so we can have a smooth finish.  Now the easy part, cover in plastic wrap and set it on the counter for overnight. when you wake up in the morning you should find the batter is light and bubbly.

The way to cook is just like cooking pancakes, using a pan and a ladle. You can spice it up adding sauteed vegetables or egg on it when cooking it.  Due to its simplicity of ingredients, this dish makes a great choice for a healthy breakfast.

Thanks for reading on as now I’ll share a pickling recipe. Pickling recipe is super easy as it takes very little effort and time to start.  First, go pick up some quality glass jars at Canadian tire for about $25.96 for a pack of 20.  You will need glass jars because plastic is a bad choice because it can leach into the food over a long time and with glass, it can be used again and again. Next, you will need to grab the produce you want to pickle. My neighbor has kindly let us use his garden and even shared his pickling recipe. My neighbor has been growing his garden for months so instead of going to the grocery sometimes he gives us the fresh produce he just picked.

Basically, we begin with a handful of jalapeno, orange habanero,  red caroline pepper, and ghost pepper in each can. Before you put them in the jar, cut them into the desired slices. After that add:

• 4cups of white vinegar
• 1 cup of white sugar
• 2 tablespoon of mustard seed
• 2 tablespoon of celery seed

once you have all the ingredients in the can put the lid on it and store it in a dark cool place for the longest shelf life. The cool thing about pickling it is that the longer you have it in the jar the stronger the flavor becomes. The pepper is good for 6 months and longer and once opened you have to consume it within 3 weeks

My neighbor grows some great tomatoes so why not show you how to make canned tomatoes since we are on the same topic.  It is closely similar to the process of the pickled peppers but with a bit more steps.

1. take ripped tomatoes and blanch in hot water for approximately 30 seconds.
2. remove the skin as you will see it come off with ease after the blanching
3. cut the whole tomatoes in half
4. stew tomatoes on low heat for 10 mins with a 2 tablespoon sugar, 1 teaspoon salt, and 200ml water.
5. boil jar in hot water for sanitation to remove bacteria
6. Put stewed tomatoes in a jar with a lid and pasteurize tomatoes by placing the full jar in hot water until lid level for about 30 mins.

pasteurizing the tomatoes helps to preserve the shelf life of the tomatoes by removing any bacteria and stopping the formation of future gas in the jar. The canned tomatoes come in handy for pasta night or when making pizza sauce as the can are good for 3 months and longer.

Thank you for sticking till the end with me and recommend you guys to get inspired and pickle something for yourselves tonight.