Pikliz

Ingredients

• 400 g green cabbage, very finely shredded
• 2 carrots, peeled and coarsely grated
• 1 medium white onion, sliced paper-thin
• 4 spring onions, thinly sliced
• 6 Scotch bonnet peppers, thinly sliced
• 6 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
• 1 tsp fine sea salt
• 12 black peppercorns
• 4 whole cloves
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• juice of 2 limes
• 700 ml white vinegar

Before you cook

• Put on disposable gloves before you touch the Scotch bonnets.
• Slice the Scotch bonnets into thin rings, keeping the seeds in for full heat or shaking them out for a gentler jar.
• Shred the cabbage as finely as you can with a sharp knife rather than a grater, so it stays crisp.
• Grate the carrots on the coarse side of a box grater.
• Sterilise a 1.5 litre jar and its lid in a 120C oven for 20 minutes and let it cool completely.

Steps

1. Put the cabbage, carrot, onion, spring onion, Scotch bonnet and garlic into a large bowl.
2. Scatter over the salt, peppercorns, cloves and thyme.
3. Toss the vegetables with your gloved hands for a minute until the salt is evenly spread and the cabbage starts to soften.
4. Pour over the lime juice and toss again.
5. Pack the mixture into the sterilised jar, pressing down hard with a wooden spoon after every couple of handfuls.
6. Keep pressing until the vegetables are compacted into about three quarters of the jar.
7. Pour in the vinegar until it covers the vegetables by 1 cm.
8. Tap the jar on the counter to release any trapped air bubbles.
9. Seal the jar and leave it at room temperature, away from sunlight, for 3 days.
10. Shake the jar once a day so the heat spreads through the brine.
11. Move it to the fridge and serve alongside fried food, spooning up both the slaw and a little of the fiery liquid.