Pickle...Turnip/Carrot/Cauliflower

Gobhi Gajar Shulgum ka Achaar
(Sweet and sour pickle of cauliflower, carrots, and turnips)

1 kg each of turnips, carrots, and cauliflower
400ml white vinegar
1kg jaggery
200 gms garlic
200 gms ginger
500ml mustard oil
200gms salt
50gms red chilli powder
10gms black cardamom
5gms cinnamon
5 gms cloves

Trim cauliflower into florets. Cut carrots into thick 2″ long batons. Trim and dice turnips thick. Bring around 3 litres of water to boil. Blanch the prepared vegetables in boiling water for 2 minutes. Drain, spread on absorbent cloth and dry in shade for a day.

Boil vinegar and jaggery together into a syrup. Boiling vinegar smells awful but persevere. Pound ginger and garlic coarsely and fry in oil over medium heat. Take off heat. Pound the whole spices coarsely. Into the oil mix in all the spices and the vinegar syrup. Add salt and the prepared vegetables. Mix well and transfer to clean dry stoneware or glass jars.

Keep the jars in the sun during the day for a few days (longer if inside) to cook the pickle. The sweet and sour pickle makes an excellent accompaniment to a North Indian meal. The pickle will easily keep for a year but is best eaten within 2-3 months when the vegetables still retain a lovely crunch