ATJAR (PICKLED SHREDDED VEGETABLES)

These sweet and sour crunchy veges can add a pop of colour and flavour to any plate but are particularly good with curries, rice and other soft dishes. This recipe makes a large amount but is easily halved, plus the pickle keeps a long time. It’s also a good way of using up orphan vegetables in your fridge, as it works with radish, courgette, carrot and red cabbage.

1 small green drumhead (regular) cabbage 2 red capsicums

2 yellow capsicums

1 telegraph cucumber

2 spring onions

5cm piece ginger root

4 cloves garlic

2 tablespoons turmeric powder 500ml white wine vinegar

100g sugar

Finely chop cabbage, discarding outer dark leaves, thick white ribs and the stem. Quarter capsicums, remove seeds and white ribs and finely slice. Bring a big pot of water to the boil, add cabbage and capsicum and blanch for 2 minutes (not too long, so the vegetables retain a bit of crunch). Drain in a colander and refresh under running cold water. Leave to drain.

Halve cucumber, scoop out seeds and thinly slice. Discard dark green tops of spring onions and finely chop the white and light green parts. Add cucumber and spring onion to cabbage and capsicum and toss to combine.

Grate ginger and garlic into a bowl and mix in turmeric. Place vinegar and sugar in a small pot and bring to the boil, stirring until sugar has dissolved.

Add turmeric mixture and cook for a few minutes to soften the garlic and ginger. Pour over the vegetables and combine.

Leave to cool then pack into glass jars so the liquid is covering as much of the vegetables as possible.

Store in the fridge. Allow a few days for the flavours to fully develop. Atjar will keep for up to 6 months. Makes 4 medium-size jars