Coriander drumsticks (hariyali tangdi) recipe

You’ll find this piccalilli all over Lulu’s, said Lasse Petersen, executive chef of Lulu’s and Llewelyn’s restaurants in Herne Hill, south London. It’s sharp, bright and endlessly adaptable – the kind of thing that pulls any dish together.

Ingredients (yields 5 medium jars)

1.5kg mixed vegetables (e.g. cauliflower, green beans, flat beans, courgette, pearl onions, green tomatoes; onions peeled and halved, everything else cut into bite-sized pieces)
45g salt
5g fenugreek
5g cumin seeds
5g coriander seeds
600ml cider vinegar
30g cornflour
10g ground turmeric
10g English mustard powder
pinch of dried chilli
5g ground ginger
200g caster sugar
15g mustard seeds

Method

Toss the vegetables and salt and leave, preferably overnight.
Strain and rinse well under cold water.
Toast the fenugreek, cumin and coriander seeds until fragrant and add to the vinegar, cornflour, turmeric, mustard powder, chilli and ginger in a blender.
Blend at high speed until the spices are finely ground and the cornflour has dispersed in the vinegar. Alternatively, you can grind spices in a pestle and mortar and then whisk into the vinegar with the cornflour.
In a large saucepan, add the spiced vinegar and sugar and slowly bring up to heat until thickened.
Toast your mustard seeds and add to the pickle brine.
Meanwhile, steam your vegetables for about 4-5 minutes until cooked but still with a little bite. (Alternatively, you can cook the vegetables in the thickened pickle brine. Keep an eye on them as the brine can catch at the bottom and burn.)
Now add the vegetables to the hot pickle, and either jar them to keep or leave to cool and eat within a week or so.
Tips and notes: for seasonal variations, try celeriac, swede, fennel, carrot and pearl onions, or beetroot, red cabbage, radish and cauliflower.

Taken from Order Up! A Taste of London’s Favourite Restaurants. Order Up! is published in support of Hospitality Action, a charity that helps hospitality workers who’ve suffered a setback. All proceeds from book sales go to support hospitality.

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