Mouneh (Syrian pickles)
No holiday is ever complete here without a bowl of Mukhalal “pickles” and olives. While you can certainly buy these pickles at the store, there’s something truly special about opening a jar of your own homemade pickles. These pickles are eaten on their own, or stuffed into shawarma or falafel wraps, or as part of a mezze table. Pickling this is very easy as well and takes about a week to be ready to eat.
Mukhalal can be prepared with a variety of veggies of one’s choice like beetroot, cauliflower, cabbage, olives and radish. Tangy and sweet with the crunchy veggies, this pickle is loved by many across the globe.
Pickles was the best way to preserve food for a long period of time, and served as the perfect complement to mezze dishes as falafel, roast chicken or kebab
INGREDIENTS
Cucumber, deseeded and cut into sticks – 2
English cucumber, cut into thick circular pieces – 2
Turnip, cut into sticks- 2
Carrots, cut into sticks – 2
Green long chilies, slit – 7-8
For Brine :
Vinegar – 11/2 Cups
Water – 1 Cup
Sugar – 1/4 Cup
Salt – 2 tbsp
Mustard seeds – 1 tsp
Fennel seeds – 1 tsp
INSTRUCTIONS
Collect all the chopped veggies in a large bowl. You can take veggies of your choice and add beetroot, cabbage and cauliflower too.
In a cooking pot add sugar, salt, vinegar,mustard and fennel seeds and water. Bring to a rolling boil.
Pour this on the veggies and cover. Let the mix cool.
Once cool, bottle it and store in the refrigerator. use as desired.
Lara Khouli