A delicious winter 'instant' pickle

It appears that British cauliflowers are under threat because farmers are making a loss on the crop due to weather conditions last year & the pricing policies of supermarkets. This is a great shame because it is such a fantastic versatile vegetable. We enjoy it in cauliflower cheese (of course!), in soup and with pasta or baked with tomatoes & feta. It is also delicious cold, as a crudite or with a salad. Our favourite use for it has got to be in Indian food as we experienced this weekend. It is so delicious as part of a potato & cauliflower curry or cooked simply with mustard seeds.

At the weekend I wanted to create a side dish to serve with a Madhur Jaffrey recipe for Lamb Shanks with Yogurt sauce. This is from her book The Ultimate Curry Bible which is well worth while getting hold of - it's informative & has some very straightforward recipes family-life friendly (i.e. not too much chopping, crushing, slicing & grinding) recipes.

Flicking through the same book I came across a recipe for Instant Punjabi-style Pickle (which you can find here on the BBC Good Food site), which is satisfyingly seasonal - using cauliflower, carrots & turnips as its base ingredients. I also liked the idea of making a pickle that would keep but could also be used immediately. Interestingly the veggies are not cooked for very long at all so retain a real crunch which makes a pleasing contrast in texture when served with other curries. I was a bit worried by the idea of almost raw turnip, but it is actually delicous & has a sweet, mustardy flavour. I guess I would call this a relish rather than a pickle, but it certainly is very useful to have a delicious side dish all ready to go in the fridge. Not that I think this particularly jar full is going to last very long at all.