Red and Green Capsicums

Red and Green Capsicums

This a simple recipe for fermenting red and green peppers. You may want to take advantage of the Summer and when supermarkets run offers it may be possible to get one or two of beautiful peppers for just one pound. Remember… there is no right or wrong in terms of adding spices… just add them to your liking. We eat lots of garlic, therefore I double the amount of added garlic in each of my jars.

Ingredients

1 kg of Peppers (approx. 10 medium size peppers)

Bay Leaves x 4

Allspice berries x 6

1L Filtered or spring water

50g Himalayan or Sea Salt

6 cloves of Garlic (can be more or less)

Equipment

2 Medium size Glass Jars with lids

Container where you can mix water and salt

Kitchen scales

Methodology

  1. Wash the glass jars thoroughly in hot water and sterilise them by rinsing with boiling water then leave to cool.
  2. In 1L of spring or filtered water dissolve 50g of salt (5% of water solution)
  3. Wash the peppers and remove stems and cores
  4. Cut each pepper into 8 pieces
  5. To each jar add: 3 allspice berries, 3 bay leaves, 3 cloves of garlic
  6. Place tightly the peppers into the jars. Make sure they are as tight as possible.
  7. Fill up the jars with water solution to the top making sure all peppers are submerged. At this stage I like using a larger piece of pepper to push down the others and making sure none of them will begin to float above the water’s top
  8. Cover the jars with the lids and place in kitchen cupboard for 3-5days then move and store in the fridge

Recommendation: Fermentation process will depend on the temperature in your kitchen. Our kitchen is an extension to our house, therefore, slightly cooler than the rest of the house. In April where the temperature outside is about 15-20C the peppers will take 4 days to ferment. In the Winter I would leave them for 6 days. The best way to establish is by simply opening the jar on day 3 and tasting. You may find out that the crunchy texture is more to your liking than the softer and you may wish to stop your fermentation process at this point.

Interesting information:

Fermented peppers can be used as a side dish but also as a sub ingredient for your dishes. You can blend them and add them to your salsa sauce or cut into small pieces and add to your rice, grains or mince meat burgers.  

Difficulty level: simple

Fermenting time: 3-6 days