If you crave a sticky, spicy, smoky pickle then look no further: this will have you diving back into the jar! Perfect as an accompaniment to Indian food, or simply served with cheese, this recipe is both easy and satisfying to make.
I first tried aubergine pickle (Brinjal pickle) in an Indian restaurant a few years ago and it was a revelation: sticky, spicy and sour but with a rich caramelised flavour, I kept going back to the bowl for more!
Understandably the restaurant wanted to keep their recipe secret, so I had a go at making my own version of it: and I think this is a pretty good approximation to the restaurant’s chutney.
I have also worked my way through many of the commercial brands: a couple of them were pleasant, but none had anything like the depth of flavour I wanted.
Homemade tamarind water
Tamarind adds a gorgeous sour flavour – and a different sour tone than you get from the lime. You use a commercial tamarind sauce, which is often concentrated, so you don’t need much of this.
Alternatively, you can make your own tamarind water easily if you use a block of tamarind and boiling water. Ok, it’s more of a loose pulp than water and it really packs a delicious sour punch.
To make tamarind water:
- break off around 100g of the tamarind block and cut up into smallish chunks.
- add to a heatproof bowl or jug and pour over about 300ml boiling water.
- leave for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally
- pass through a sieve and into a container, pushing well with the back of a spoon to squeeze out as much liquid as you can
- scrape the underside of the sieve to get the smooth pulp and mix it into the tamarind water.
- discard the tamarind left in the sieve.
Any spare can be frozen in small containers or ice cube trays for later use, such as with other Indian curries or Thai dishes.
This tamarind water is also excellent mixed with sugar or honey and crushed garlic for a delicious dip.
Going smokier with the flavour
I have made many batches of this pickle, but I sometimes like to smoke around half of the onions and the aubergines first, which gives a wonderful extra dimension to the pickle.
If smoking the aubergines and onions, I often use applewood chips and smoke them about 10 minutes before leaving them to cool in the smoker. This given a gentle smoky flavour without going acrid.
Recipe: aubergine & tamarind pickle – makes about 6 medium jars
- 3 medium aubergines, about 900g in total – there is no need to peel or salt them
- 2 large onions, peeled
- 4 fat garlic cloves, peeled
- 400ml white wine vinegar (or use cider vinegar/red wine vinegar)
- 400ml soft brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon black treacle
- juice and finely grated zest of 2 limes
- 80g dried apricots
- 100ml tamarind water (see above) or 3-4 tablespoons commercial tamarind paste
- 3-4 fresh red chillies, including seeds (depending on how hot you like it)
- 2 teaspoons smoked paprika
- 2 teaspoons ground coriander
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 2 teaspoons black onion seeds
- 1 teaspoon sweet cinnamon powder
- 1 teaspoon ground fenugreek
- 2” piece fresh ginger, peeled
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
(1) Put all the ingredients, apart from the aubergine, into a food processor and blitz to a smoothish pulp.
(2) Transfer the mixture to a large pan and bring slowly to a simmer, stirring to dissolve the sugar.
(3) Roughly chop the aubergines and put the pieces into a food processor: this is easier done in batches. Blitz for a few seconds at a time to get then finely chopped: if some of the aubergine goes pulpy, or if there are some chunkier pieces, it really doesn’t matter.
(4) Add the aubergine to the pan and give it a good stir. Bring to the boil and then turn the heat down to the lowest setting and put the lid on.
(5) Let the mixture simmer gently for about 45 minutes to an hour, stirring from time to time to prevent it catching on the base of the pan. You need to keep simmering until the mixture very thick, without any trace of liquid.
(6) Spoon carefully into sterilized jars and seal. It is delicious eaten immediately but you can store it for many months, during which time its flavour will develop even further.
Other recipes that go with this pickle:
Phil's Home Kitchen 