Now that the hunting season is upon us and I will have other things to do with my time I figured it was time to finish up my garden for this year. This years garden had its ups and downs, I got lots of green beans and beets but my cucumbers and zucchini were spotty at best. The last thing to come out this year were the rest of my Paris market carrots. These are smaller carrots, they don't grow long just short fat very sweet carrots. I picked about 6 pounds this morning and was going to freeze all of them for later use. I ended up only freezing 4 pounds because last night a 2 in the morning I had a revelation of sorts. Early in the season I had gotten a bunch of radishes out of the garden and made a very tasty
radish relish. I don't know what made me think of it last night but I started thinking about a carrot relish and if it would be any good.
I have been making all sorts of relishes and love each one I have made. Corn relish was one of the first I made, then came the zucchini relish and this year the radish relish so why not give a carrot relish a try. These Paris market carrots are very sweet and I was thinking that I should try something fairly spicy to help balance the sweet. I didn't want to go with any type of hot pepper but needed something with heat. Then I remembered the piccalilli at the The Pig and Fiddle and it was a relish of sorts with a curry flavor. Some of the curries I have eaten have carrots in them and I love curry flavors, so why not make a curried carrot relish.
Recipes like this one really make me really happy, its not often that I come up with something that is new and interesting and possibly original. I will have to let this sit for a couple of weeks to get a real sense of how good or bad it is, but the initial results were amazing. The carrots are slightly crunchy and sweet with a pleasant heat and curry spice. I am really looking forward to trying this with some headcheese or a game terrine.
Curried Carrot Relish
2 lbs shredded carrots
1 medium onion, diced
1 tablespoon minced ginger
4-5 cloves of garlic
2 cups white vinegar
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon yellow mustard seeds
1 tablespoon cumin seeds
1/4 teaspoon cloves
2 tablespoons curry powder ( I used Penzey's vindaloo curry powder)
1. bring the vineagar, sugar, salt and spices to a boil
2. Add the carrots, onion,ginger and garlic
3. return to a boil them simmer for 15 minutes
4. transfer to sreilized half pint jars and process in a water bath for 15 minutes
Makes 7 half pints
