Fiery ginger pickle

We have had a bit of the lurgy in our house this week - my daughter kindly shared the love & after waking with a sore throat I thought that a fiery ginger pickle was in order & I knew exactly the one I wanted to experiment with. When dropping some food off for a client to have at a private dinner party recently, I was invited to try several pickles that the Grandma of the family had made. Amongst them was a banging ginger number that knocked my socks off. 

Ginger has SO many health benefits - it is brilliant for an upset tummy & nausea, is an ace digestive aid as well as helping to clear out sinuses when your bunged up.  It has been used for thousands of years in Asian medicine & more recently Western studies have shown that it is effective in reducing the swelling in people that suffer from arthritis, it can activate cell-killing genes in certain cancers & has shown to be effective in the treatment of migraines. Now, there are some big reasons to cook a curry if ever I saw them!!

I can quite happily scoff this pickle straight from the jar but it would be tasty in stir fries, to adorn a dhall or meat curry as well as adding a kick to a salad. Enjoy! 

INGREDIENTS
160g peeled ginger
Juice of 2 lemons
3 tbsp vinegar - I used white wine vinegar but cider vinegar would work too
2 pinches of seasalt

WHAT YOU'LL NEED 
A glass jar with lid (a kilner or jam jar is perfect) - cleaned & sterilised

WHAT DO I DO?

• Chop the peeled ginger into large matchsticks & pop into a bowl
• Sprinkle with the salt & give it a good squeeze
• Pack into your jar & then pour the lemony, vinegar brine over the top. There needs to be enough to cover all of the ginger. If needs be then squeeze in a little more lemon & add vinegar to taste.
• Give it a good shake
• You could eat this after an hour or so but I found that the flavours had really developed into something special after a week  

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