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Indian Pickle

A preserved vegetable mixture pickled in vinegar with spices.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 20 ingredients
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Why it works: Shallot and horseradish match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 376 recipes. Both carry coumarin, which smells sweet, hay. The science ↓

Indian Pickle

Ingredients

Directions

Salt and prepare

  1. Slice the white cabbage and divide the cauliflower into florets.

  2. Sprinkle coarse sea salt over the vegetables in a large dish or wooden tub and set aside for 48 hours.

  3. After 48 hours, dry the vegetables and place them in a large jar with garlic and other seasonings.

Pickle in vinegar

  1. Boil the vinegar and pour it over the vegetables, ensuring they are well covered.

  2. Allow the mixture to cool to room temperature.

  3. Cover the jar.

  4. As other vegetables ripen, wash them in cold vinegar, wipe them, and add them to the jar, ensuring they are covered by vinegar.

  5. If more vinegar is needed, boil it before adding to the jar.

Repack and seal

  1. When all vegetables are collected, mix them thoroughly in a large bowl.

  2. Pack the vegetables into smaller jars without the vinegar.

  3. Boil the vinegar again, adding more as needed to fill the jars, and include additional seasonings.

  4. Bring the vinegar to a boil and pour it over the packed vegetables.

  5. Allow the mixture to cool to room temperature.

  6. Cover the jars. This pickle keeps well if entirely covered with vinegar.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Shallot + horseradishtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together376 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  2. Horseradish + radishtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together38 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  3. Cauliflower + radishtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together55 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-methoxy-4-vinylphenol (clove, smoky).

  4. Cauliflower + horseradishtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together139 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  5. Cabbage + cauliflowertop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together305 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

White cabbage
Forms the bulk of the pickle and becomes crisp-tender as it is salted and soaked in vinegar.
Sea salt (in the method)
Draws water out of the vegetables during the 48-hour salting, firming them and concentrating flavour.
Vinegar
Acidifies and preserves the vegetables, keeping them submerged in the pickling liquid.
Cauliflower
Adds bulk and a firm texture that holds up to the acidic brine.
Garlic
Contributes pungent aroma that mellows and infuses the vinegar over time.
Mustard seed
Adds sharp, pungent flavour and aroma to the pickling liquid.

The step that matters

Keeping every vegetable fully covered by vinegar. Vegetables exposed to air can spoil or mould, while submersion in acidic vinegar inhibits microbial growth. Vegetables added later must be covered too.

Swap the ginger

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (cabbage, shallot, cauliflower, horseradish, radish, beans, pepper):

  1. Capersfits better
  2. Turmericfits better
  3. Tarragonfits better
  4. Gingerthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against cabbage, shallot, cauliflower, horseradish, radish, beans, pepper. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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