Fermented green tomatoes

MAKES: 1 litre

PREP TIME: 1 hour (including cooling)

FERMENTATION: 14 days

This recipe uses a saltwater brine fermentation to turn end-of-season green tomatoes into a delicious fermented snack. Give it enough time, and beneficial bacteria will populate the jar. They eat away at the sugars in the tomatoes, producing lactic acid, vitamins, and probiotics. You'll need a 1-litre jar or two 500ml jars, with lids.

INGREDIENTS

1.9 litres water

¼ cup plain salt (not iodised) 1.5kg green tomatoes, washed

and quartered

2-4 chillies, quartered

10 cloves of garlic, peeled and halved

METHOD

1 Warm the water in a pot, then dissolve the salt in it to make a brine. Leave to cool.

2 Layer the tomatoes, garlic, and chillies in the jar/jars, then pour in enough of the cooled brine to just cover the vegetables.

3 Put the follower (see tip at right) on top, so the vegetables are sitting below the top of the brine, then put a weight on top. Screw the lid on the jar. Leave it one turn from tight, which allows fermenting gases to escape.

4 Place in a cool, dark corner of the kitchen, and leave for 14 days.

5 On Day 14, do a taste-test – if the fermentation process has gone well, it's ready to eat. Don't worry if there's a white film on the top of the brine. Just scoop it off and wipe around the top of the inside of the jar with a paper towel. However, if the contents smell ‘bad,' or there's grey or black mould floating on top of the brine, throw the batch away and try again. Common reasons ferments can go bad include getting the brine ratio wrong, or contamination.

6 Transfer the jar to the fridge for long-term storage.

Kristina's DIY follower tip

It's essential to submerge the tomatoes during fermentation.

To do this, you use a follower, something that holds everything beneath the brine.

Cut a round disc out of an ice cream container lid to the same circumference as the bottom of the jar. Make a cut that runs from the edge into the middle of the disc, so it's easier to get it into the jar. Push the disc down under the level of the liquid.

Hold in place with either a smooth, sterilised rock or heavy glass weight. You could also use another small jar sitting between the lid and the plastic disk.

In this example, I've used a silicone airlock lid so CO₂ can escape.