Moroccan salad pickles

Tam West

This is my take on traditional Moroccan salad pickles, based on a recipe from Ghillie Basan's excellent book, Flavours of Morocco. This will last for two weeks covered in the fridge, but serve at room temperature and add the coriander just before serving. It is great as a starter with bread and olives, as an accompaniment to fish or chicken or stuffed into a crusty roll with feta and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.

These pickles go well in this chicken salad.

Ingredients

2	Pink radishes, thinly sliced
½	Cucumbers, peeled, split in half lengthways, deseeded, thinly sliced
1	Carrot, peeled, cut into thin matchsticks
100 g	Green beans, stalk ends cut off, beans thinly sliced on the diagonal
1	Red capsicum, cored, deseeded, thinly sliced
1 Tbsp	Salt
1 tsp	Cumin seeds, toasted in a dry pan until fragrant and just darkening in colour
1 tsp	Green peppercorns
1 pinch	Saffron threads
1	Cinnamon stick
4 Tbsp	Lemon juice
1 Tbsp	White vinegar
1 Tbsp	Sugar
1 small handful	Fresh coriander, coarsely chopped

Directions

1. Put the vegetables into a non-reactive bowl and add the salt. Mix well and set aside for 30 minutes so the salt draws the water from the vegetables.
2. Rinse in cold water and squeeze dry in handfuls. Place the "pickled" vegetables in a clean bowl.
3. Put the cumin seeds, peppercorns, saffron, cinnamon stick, juice, vinegar and sugar in another bowl and mix well until the sugar dissolves. Pour this mixture over the vegetables. Mix well, taste and season with salt if necessary.
4. Stir in the coriander just before serving.