Banana peppers have been all the rage at the Kumar household these past couple of months. We eat them in stir-fries, stuffed with cottage cheese, rolled in tortillas, and if that list wasn’t enough, it’s now moved onto pickling!
The thing about regular peppers for me is that I just find them so drab and boring. Sure, it plays a large part in the ‘forming’ of certain dishes, but for it to be a star, it just lacks something. Enter banana peppers. They are everything a pepper is, and a whole lot more. Spicy where it needs to be – pickled, added to salads and sandwiches; and mild enough to replace its coloured counterpart in a stir-fry or to stuff. They pack a punch without being unabashedly bold.
These pickled peppers pair very well with cheeses, in salads, and you can break up that mundane sandwich routine with a few of these popped in there.
Steeped in this flavourful brine, they take upwards of 24 hours to start pickling, and they sit well in the refrigerator for up to 3 months (they actually get better, with the flavours becoming more robust with time). If you plan to use hi-tech canning equipment, I’m told that it stays good for more than a year!
- 3 large banana peppers, sliced into ½ cm rounds
- 1 clove of garlic, minced
- ½ cup vinegar
- ⅔ cup water
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp black peppercorns
- Place the sliced peppers, minced garlic and peppercorns in a clean glass jar.
- Add the vinegar, water, sugar, and salt to a saucepan and bring it to a slow simmer just enough to dissolve the salt and sugar crystals. Pour over the peppers, making sure they are completely immersed in the brine.
- Once slightly cooled, screw on the lid and refrigerate. Let it sit for at least 24 hours before eating. Can be stored refrigerated for up to 3 months.
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