March 17, 2009

Torshi Makhloot - Persian Mixed Vegetable Pickle


Torshi Makhloot- Persian Pickled Vegetables

ترشی مخلوط  Torshi (pickled vegetables) are the perfect tangy, crunchy and flavorful pickle for your abgousht (lamb soup), kababs, kotlets, polow & khoresh (rice and stew) dishes. There are many different kinds of torshi. This pickled vegetable is a combination of fresh vegetables, dried herbs, spices and vinegar.

Torshi Makhloot - Mixed Vegetable Pickle

Ingredients:

3 large carrots, washed, peeled, lightly steamed, finely chopped or shredded
3 medium red or white onions, peeled and finely diced
2 medium eggplant, peeled and diced
2 large cucumbers, peeled and finely chopped
2 green bell peppers, washed, cleaned and diced
1 small cauliflower, washed, finely chopped
1 small head of celery, washed and finely chopped
1/2 cup shredded white cabbage

1 cup of each of the following herbs: (parsley, coriander, dill), washed, dried and finely chopped
2 tablespoons of the following fresh herbs chopped or dried (tarragon, mint, basil)

2 tablespoons dried lime powder (limoo amani)
2 tablespoons crushed angelica (golpar)
2 tablespoons nigella seeds (siah daneh)
2 tablespoon fennel seeds (razianeh)
2 tablespoons coriander seeds (tokhm-e geshneez)
6-7 garlic cloves, finely chopped
4-5 tablespoons salt
2 red hot peppers, dried or fresh, chopped
2 teaspoons turmeric powder

5-7 cups white vinegar

Method:
  1. Salt the eggplants and either bake them in a preheated 350 degrees Fahrenheit oven for 25- 30 minutes or cook them with 1/2 cup of vinegar over medium-low heat for 15 minutes. Set aside to cool.
  2. All the herbs and vegetables must be completely dried before mixing them together. Spread out the washed herbs on a table cloth for several hours to dry.
  3. In a large mixing bowl combine all ingredients and mix well.
  4. Using a wooden spoon pack pickles in clean glass jars up to the rim. Press down on them to make more room as you are filling up the jars. Add more vinegar if needed.
  5. Sprinkle a teaspoon of salt into each jar before closing the lid tightly.
  6. Store in a cool dry place for at least 2 weeks before serving.  
Enjoy!

22 comments:

  1. Thank you for posting some great Persian recipes! My husband is Persian and I've mastered quite a few, and my latest "challenge" is torshi. The recipe itself isn't my question however... I have been trying and trying to find a recipe that continues to tell you how to process torshi in a water bath for shelf-stable (non-refrigerated) storage. I could just make some and process it for 20 minutes, but I wanted to find someone who has tried it. This is mainly so I can store it someplace other than my fridge (that is already filling up with other pickled and fermented items!).

    ReplyDelete
  2. A "hot water canning" method will work just fine for most pickle recipes. Process the jars in boiling water for 10 minutes and this should seal traditional mason jars with gummy seals. I've been pickling all summer and was pleased to find this torshi recipe! It beats the $10 my Persian grocer charges.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I just finished making this beautiful Torshi recipe. It is soaking in the vinegar and tomorrow am I will use the hot water canning method. Thank you! Enjoy!

      Delete
  3. Dear Azita, could you please advise how I can prepare at home limoo amani? Do I need to use limes or lemons, or both are possible? How salty should be the water to cook them in? An how long I need to cook them? I would like to taste some more recipes but it is hard for me to buy them here
    Thank you :)
    Wioletta

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Wioletta, if you can’t find limoo amani where you live then you can make your own by blanching small thin-skinned limes in salted water for 5-7 minutes . Add a couple of tablespoons of salt to a medium sized pot of boiling water and then dry the limes in the sun.

      Delete
  4. I made this minus a couple of the spices I couldn't find.... at a half batch it was still a lot! and tasty, so I gave some to friends. :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. If anyone knows where I can buy golpar in the UK PLEASE let me know

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You can buy Golpar through Amazon. Thank you.

      Delete
  6. How much does this recipe make? i.e. how many jars do I need and what size?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sara, it yields about 6 cups and you'll need 2-3 medium-sized jars.

      Delete
  7. I made Torshi for the first time, and followed the recipe...my husband's family usually uses apple cider vinegar....it's been about 3 weeks, and the vinegar taste is stronger than I remember my in law's torshi tasting...any idea why?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Apple cider vinegar is milder than distilled white vinegar.

      Delete
  8. if I want to used hot bath canning, won't it make Torshi soft since I am cooking them?

    Would you suggest ant other way, other than the fridge?

    Thanks

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You can use hot bath canning and if you prefer a more crunchy pickle you can reduce the cooking time by 5-7 minutes. You can store the pickles in a cool and dry place.

      Delete
  9. I have been making torshi for quite a few years and have never done the hot bath or sealing as you have described. Just close the lid tightly and let it sit. I have opened jars that are a few years old and never have had a problem with it. I believe the fact that it is in vinegar takes care of it for you. Just an FYI for the brave ones!!! Love the recipe, very similar to the one my mother-in-law handed down to me.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Thank you for sharing this recipe! Torshi looks super interesting, I definitely want to make this at home. I love how many vegetables are included in this recipe. I'll give it a shot and report back with how it turns out!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Hi Azita...My husband LOVES Torshi....I have tried to make it on a few occassions...it was just OK...I used apple cider vinegar, because it's what his mom and sisters use....but when I made it, even after a month of letting it rest, it still was SO acidic....his sister made it recently, and it was also VERY acidic....any ideas?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi, you can counterbalance the taste of vinegar by adding a little more sliced carrots for their natural sweetness and a little more salt or you can add a teaspoon of honey which cuts the acidity.

      Delete
  12. I prepared a full batch (3.5 kg) yesterday. I left out the vinegar and adjusted the salt content to allow for natural fermentation. I am currently praying to all the gods out there that this goes well because it was quite a lot of work (and vegetables). I hope all the good spices do not mess with the fermentation. Inshallah.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It turned out perfectly!

      If anyone is interested in trying: I used a salt content of 2.5% of the total weight. The salt will draw liquid from the vegetables, so there is no need to add any extra water, unless the liquid from the veggies is not enough to cover everything. In that case: add 2.5% salt to the water as well. It is important to keep everything submerged until the fermentation created enough acid to preserve the torshi on its own.

      I kept everything in a big jar with some headspace. Gas will be generated and the headspace helps to avoid a mess. After a week or two the torshi will be ready, but it will keep developing over several weeks. The spices and herbs were very dominant with mild acidity after two weeks. The acidity was almost comparable to torshi with vinegar after six weeks at room temperature (~20°C).

      It is important to use salt without iodine and fluorine! The fermentation process involves lactobacteria that occur naturally on vegetables and they will be harmed by iodine and fluorine.

      If anyone if brave enough to try this: Good luck! It is a lot of fun to ferment vegetables :)

      Delete
  13. Thank you for sharing this and many other great recipes. I would like to add that distilled white vinegar in US made by companies like Heinz is very strong for persian Torshi. I used it once and when we opened the jar smell of vinegar hit me very hard and the torshi was extremely acidic. It wasn't like the Torshi I was used to Iran. Apple Cider vinegar is less acidic and I tired it once and I did not like the taste of it. I tried again using a mixture of 50/50 water and distilled white vinegar. I boiled it, let it cool before adding it to vegtables and it was much better. I talked to several people and I heard another method is adding like a Table spoon of date or grape molasses (Shireh) to vinegar. I have not tried that method but from scientific perspective it makes sense. I am sharing this so that you are aware before going through all the hard work and ending up with jars of vegtables soaked in a strong acid. If you have any other suggestion or thoughts please share.

    Thank you again for this recipe. Your blog has made me a much better cook.

    ReplyDelete
  14. I just made a gigantic batch of torshi. This time I tried red wine vinegar at 5% acidity. This was suggested by a family member in Iran. It is the first time I try with RWV. It is different and intense.. have to get used to it. I added alot of grape molasses to get a little sweetness. In the future I will not be using red wine vinegar anymore. I'm not the biggest fan of the taste.
    Has anyone tried making torshi with RWV in the past?

    ReplyDelete