Turkish Pickles (Turşu) Recipe

Turkish Mixed Pickles (Turşu)

         

                 Turkish-Style Mixed Pickles Recipe (Karışık Turşu)

         Winter preparations are a very important task for the Turkish people who live throughout the Anatolia region. One of these prepations, maybe the most important preparation of winter is making Pickles (Turşu). When the first signs of autumn comes, it means that; when the late September, or early October days come, the large jars of glass and plastic reappear and famous Turkish Pickle (we call it "Turşu") is made by the Turkish people. Shortly, it is time for making Turşu. Cool weather seasons such as Autumn or early Winter seasons are the ideal time for homemade Turkish Pickles (Turşu) as the temperature is perfect for the process of giving vegetables or fruits their long-life and sour taste. Actually, we consume Turkish Pickle (Turşu) in every time and ofcourse, whenever you want it, you find Turkish Pickles (Turşu) in everywhere. WHAT DOES IT MEAN? It means that; Turkish Pickles (Turşu) doesn't only available in that period (Autumn or winter) in Turkey. Our famous Turkish Pickles (Turşu) is sold in groceries, markets and supermarkets and served in all restaurants all-year-round. Large cities like Istanbul, Ankara, Bursa, İzmir and Antalya even have special pickle (Turşu) shops, selling dozens of varieties of Turkish Pickle (Turşu).

        

Turkish-Style Pickle Turşu Recipe

           What is Pickles? What is Turkish Pickles?

         According to the historians; humanbeing have known making pickling process since 2030 BC. Yes, We just want to say "WOOOW"!!!. It is nearly 5000 years old food recipe. And, many historians said that; "the word "Pickle" comes from the Dutch "pekel" or northern German "pókel", meaning "salt" or "brine", they are two very very very important ingredients in the pickling process." Throughout the history pickling was a necessity, as it was the best way to Preserve food, vegetables and fruits for a long period of time. 

         We, as Turkish People, love pickle very much. We can say that pickle is very famous and very popular among to people of Turkey, and Turkish Pickle are an integral staple of our Anatolian (Turkish) Cuisine. According to the Turkish People, a meal without Turkish Pickles is not complete. Especially, we consume it in winter days very much. But, in fact, we consume pickles throughout the 365 days. Many historians in Turkey said that, "Pickle (Turşu) culture in Turkey dates at least as far back as early Ottoman Empire times".
         Our Turkish Pickle (Turşu) goes well with  Turkish-pide ,  Our-3000-years-old-pita- ,

         Important Things About the Making Turkish Pickle ( You Need to Know About Making Turkish Pickles)

         - "Rock Salt, Vinegar and Garlic" are very important ingredients of Turkish Pickles. On the other hand, some pickle men support that lemon juice is better and very effective ingredient for the making Pickles, 

         - Make sure the vegetables (and fruits) are small sized, the vegetables (and fruits) need to be firm and healty at the time of use,

       - Vinegar is very important for the making of pickles, so that you should use good quality vinegar, if you think that your vinegar is not sharp enough to make good pickles, boil the vinegar into the aluminum pot for 3-5 minutes,

     - Dried chickpeas are very important for the fermentation process. So that you should place the dried chickpeas to cover the bottom of the jar. Because, chickpeas assist the fermentation process and absorb impurities that would otherwise make the juice cloudy.

        - Pickles juice should be prepared in the steel or aluminum pots or teflon pot.

Making Turşu 

         Turkish Pickle's Recipe

         Yes, It is time for Turkish Pickle (Turşu) in Turkey! Today, we are going to share our Turkish Pickle recipe on the blog. So, here it is, you can learn how to make your own pickled vegetables Turkish style. Turkish Pickle (Turşu) is the name given to sour pickled vegetables (or fruits), such as; cucumber, snake cucumber, unripmellon, green tomato, peppers, cabbage, carrot, cauliflower, and more. This way of conserving vegetables (or fruits) is an old tradition that is still carried out by many Turkish families. You can also try to make your own pickles with this our "Turkish Style Pickle (Turşu) recipe". 

          P.S: There are a lot of ways of making Turkush Pickle (Turşu) and every family has its own secret ingredients. Below is a step-by-step our way of making pickle (Turşu), taken from our moms! 

Ingredients of Pickle Turşu 

          Ingredients:

          - 1 or 2 kg Cornishon or Cucumbers, (we recommend that cornishons, if cornishons or cucumbers are small, use them as whole part, if not, cut them into 2 pieces),

          - 1 kg Snake cucumbers, cut them into 2 or 3 pieces,
          - 1 kg Unripemellons, they should be small and round,
          - 1 kg Green tomatoes,
          - 10-15 Cloves garlic, chopped roughly, (4-5 cloves of garlic per jar),
          - 1 or 1,5 kg Green peppers, cut them into 2 pieces,

         - 4 or 5 Bay leaves, (it is optional, We use them because of bay leaves prevent bacteria in the pickles and its taste and smell better) 

          - 4-5 Tablespoons Rock salt, (we recommend Rock salt, not others),
          - 2 Cups Good quality vinegar, (nearly 1 Glass of vinegar per jar),
          - 2 Lemons juice and half lemon, sliced, (it is optional, but we often use it),
          - 3 Liter of purified water per jar or as you needed depending on your jar size,
          - On top: 1 Cup parsley, if you want chop it roughly

Making Turkish-Style Pickle Turşu 

       

Making Mixed Pickle Turşu 

        Preparation:

       First of all, clean your jar well, preferably with boiled water. Then, put your all ingredients of pickle on the work table. Secondly, prick the skin of the green tomatoes, unripemellons, snakecucumbers and cornishons (or cucumbers) with a fork. Then, you should prepare your pickle's (Turşu) juice in the steel or aluminum pots or teflon pot. Pickle (Turşu) juice is made from salt, vinegar and water (juice of lemons optional). Bring the water to the boil, dissolve in the salt and add the vinegar.  At the same time, squeeze the lemons into this pot. At the end of this process, your pickle juice is ready. Then, take your jar of pickle and cover the bottom of the jar with a layer of chickpeas (Because, chickpeas assist the fermentation process and absorb impurities that would otherwise make the juice cloudy), then fill your jar with the vegetables. Then pour your pickle juice onto vegetables (you will cover the pickles with this pickle juice to the top). Make sure all the pickles are covered with this pickle juice. Add your parsley on top, and press to cover them with water too. You can also add lemon slices and bay leaves. Then, close the lid of your jar tightly and place them in a dark, dry and cool place of your home. Leave for fermentation for about 1 month. (You can let the jar sit for 1-2 months if desired). Bye the way, after about two weeks, you should check that everything is okay. We mean that don't forget to check the water level. If it would lower down, so add some more pickle juice. Then, close it again. When your pickle is done, the vegetables will change in color (forexample: your cornishons -cucumbers- look yellowish and translucent,) and they will become crispy. It is done, you may serve it with meals.

Turkish Mixed Pickle Karışık-Turşu 

        Turkish Pickle (Turşu) goes well with "meat dishes" and "Buttered rice under stewed white beans dish". We are sure that you like our meat dishes such as;  Steak-and-potatoes-one-pot ,  Meat-balls-in-sauce-sulu-kofte ,  Turkish-shish-kabab ,  Turkish-chicken-shish-kabab ,  Oven-baked-lamb-chops ,  Beef-or-mutton-kavurma ,

         Please let us know how this "Pickles (Turşu)" turns out for you in the comments. We are always so eager to hear from you.  

         ENJOY

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