Who Knew…

That the Iranians love dill?

I love dill too. Perhaps I could help broker a more perfect peace, based totally and utterly on a mutual appreciation for the beautifully feathery, horribly misunderstood herb.

And how is that I know that Iran has a love affair with dill? I woke up on Saturday with a powerful craving for cauliflower curry. I looked on the Internet for a recipe, but gosh darnit, if cauliflower curry isn’t popular! There were so many recipes, all so similar… I wanted something more, well, unique, a curry to call my own (more on that later).

So I stepped away from the computer and looked to my bookshelves, and wouldn’t you know, but I only own one cookbook with curry recipes, and not only that, it’s a relic from my misguided days spent as a vege; Madhur Jaffrey’s World-Of-The-East Vegetarian Cooking.

And you know what else? Rascally Madhur that she is, doesn’t call any of the dishes in this muti-culti book curries! Like, she actually makes you read the recipes and stuff, and thumb through and goggle at all the amazing variety of the cuisines of Asia, the sub-continent and the Middle East!

So there I sat thumbing, putting together a recipe for curry in my head when I stumbled upon a recipe called “Cauliflower Pickled With Dill” from Iran. Pickled? Cauliflower? Can we get a “Hell yeah!” in the blogosphere? I sure got one in my living room. Trying to convince the boy to let me make pickled cauliflower is like trying to get Homer to eat a donut. In other words, not that hard.

We tromped to Kalustyan’s for supplies, then tromped to the greenmarket for some cruciforms, and here I must issue a warning. People. Fresh cauliflower season seems to be on the wane! Get out there and grab a head! Make this recipe now!

Okay, thanks for letting me get that off my chest. So make the pickles I did. Hands down, easiest pickles ever. No noxious fumes, no processing, no sealing. The hardest part is waiting the 12 hours before eating them. But it was totally worth it! They’re slightly hot, lusciously garlicky, pleasing, puckeringly vinegary and of course utterly dilly.

So, to the IAEA, the UN and all other concerned parties I say: Let there be peace through pickles. Go on, give it a go, what can it hurt? Nothing else’s worked so far.

I think I’m going to make up some bumper stickers.

Head below the jump for the recipe for Iranian Cauliflower Pickles With Dill.

Iranian Cauliflower Pickles With Dill

prep time: 15 minutes ~ cooking time: 5 minutes ~ waiting time: 12 hours ~ special equipment: 2 half-pint wide-mouth canning jars.

• 1 head Cauliflower
• 2 + a little cups White Distilled Vinegar
• Salt
• 24 of your very best Black Peppercorns (this is the time to pull out those special ones you’ve been hoarding away)
• 4 dried hot Indian Red Peppers
• 2 tsps dried Dill
• 4 cloves Garlic, thinly sliced

Combine the vinegar, peppercorns, peppers, dill and salt to taste. Set aside.

Set a large pot of heavily salted water to boil. Meanwhile break the cauliflower into small-to-medium sized florets that will easily fit into the jars and pickle in 12 hours. Place a colander in the sink and rinse the florets.

When the water boils, dump the florets in and watch closely. When the water begins to boil again, immediately turn the heat off, and dump the florets back into the colander. Rinse with cold water.

In the bottom of each jar, place 1/4 of the sliced garlic. Layer in cauliflower until half full (it’s okay if the cauliflower is still a little warm, in fact,it’s probably best). Place the rest of the garlic (1/2 to each jar) and 2 of the peppers in each jar. Add the rest of the cauliflower and pour in the vinegar concoction trying to make sure each jar gets an equal amount of dill and peppercorns. Top off with more plain vinegar if needed.

That’s it! Just pop the jars into your fridge and bite your fingernails until 12 hours have passed and you can finally dig in!

Enjoy! And remember, Peace Through Pickles!

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