Sweet Cucumber Pickle

Another recipe from Sarah Raven's Garden Cookbook. Not quite what I wanted but I couldn't find a recipe to match my needs and wanted to get all my pickling out of the way - the house smells like vinegar for some time afterwards... this is yummy.

Sweet Cucumber Pickle

Makes 5 small jars

3 large cucumbers
2 onions
50g salt
600ml white wine vinegar or distilled white vinegar
450g granulated sugar
1 tbsp mustard seeds
1 tsp celery seeds
5 cloves
1/2 tsp ground turmeric

1. Peel the cucumbers and cut lengthways into thinish sticks about 6-7cm long and about 0.5cm deep and 1.5cm wide.

2. Thinly slice the onions into half moons. Put the cucumber and onions into a large mixing bowl and sprinkle with salt. Cover this with a weighted plate and leave for 2-3 hours.

3. Rinse the cucumber and onion in cold water, and then let stand to drain. While they are draining, put all the remaining ingredients into a saucepan and stir over a low heat until the sugar has dissolved.

4. Add the cucumber and onion, bring to the boil and simmer for 1 minute.

5. Remove from the heat and lift the cucumber and onion out of the liquid. Put into warm sterilized jars.

6. Return the liquid to the heat and boil rapidly for a least 10 minutes to reduce it. Pour the liquid over the cucumber in the jars and cover. I actually strained my vinegar through a sieve but the recipe doesn't tell you to. Keep in the fridge once open.