The smoky flavour of barbecued foods can be transformed into something spectacular if you serve it with one of these delicious side dishes.
This is a very unusual but very cooling yoghurt-style relish. There is no need to embark on the messy job of preparing fresh beetroot these days. You should find it already peeled and cooked on the salad counter of your local supermarket.
Serves 6–8
225 g (8 oz) cooked and peeled beetroot
½ teaspoon cumin seeds
2–3 teaspoons lemon juice
1 small onion, very finely chopped
½ tablespoon horseradish sauce (not creamed horseradish)
100 g (4 oz) wholemilk or Greek natural yoghurt
2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint
cayenne pepper and salt
Cut the beetroot into small dice and place in a bowl.
Heat a dry, heavy-based frying pan over a high heat. Add the cumin seeds and toss around for a couple of minutes until they start to smell aromatic and have darkened slightly.
Grind to a fine powder in a coffee grinder or a mortar and pestle.
Add the roasted cumin to the beetroot with the rest of the ingredients and stir together well. Cover and chill for 1 hour before serving.
This Thai relish is quite spicy, so if you don’t like things too hot, cut down on the number of dried chillies. This is best made and eaten the same day.
Serves 6–8
2 cucumbers
1 onion, thinly sliced
1 red chilli, seeded and thinly sliced
2 tablespoons salt
6 small dried red chillies
3 garlic cloves, very finely chopped
6 shallots, finely chopped
2.5 cm (1 in) galangal or fresh root ginger, peeled and chopped
100 g (4 oz) roasted, salted cashew nuts or peanuts
3 tablespoons groundnut or sunflower oil
1 teaspoon black mustard seeds
¼ teaspoon ground turmeric
3 tablespoons caster sugar
175 ml (6 fl oz) white wine vinegar
Cut the cucumbers into very thin slices. Place in a colander with the onion and the sliced red chilli, mix in the salt and set aside to drain for 2 hours.
Rinse off the salt and allow the water to drain away. Spread the mixture out on lots of kitchen paper or clean tea towels and dry really well.
Soak the dried red chillies in hot water for 10 minutes until softened. Drain and put into a food processor together with the garlic, shallots, galangal or root ginger and 25 g (1 oz) of the cashew nuts. Blend the mixture to a coarse paste.
Heat the oil in a frying pan. Add the mustard seeds and as soon as they begin to pop, add the spice paste and turmeric and fry for 5 minutes, stirring now and then.
Add the sugar and vinegar and simmer for 5–7 minutes until the mixture has reduced and thickened. Leave to cool.
Coarsely chop the rest of the cashew nuts.
Transfer the cucumber mixture to a bowl and stir in the spice paste and the chopped nuts. Stir together well, spoon into a bowl and serve.
Lightly cooked vegetables preserved in vinegar make a great partnership with cooked meats. Make this a week in advance so the flavours can mature. If this amount is more than you need, it can be kept in a cool dark place for up to three months.
Serves 8–10
100 g (4 oz) cauliflower
100 g (4 oz) celery
100 g (4 oz) carrots
100 g (4 oz) cucumber
100 g (4 oz) red peppers
50 g (2 oz) French beans
50 g (2 oz) mangetout
50 g (2 oz) baby sweetcorn
50 g (2 oz) button onions
300 ml (10 fl oz) white wine vinegar
3 allspice berries
3 black peppercorns
4 fresh bay leaves
pinch of ground saffron or turmeric
2 garlic cloves, chopped
3 tablespoons light soft brown sugar
50 g (2 oz) cherry tomatoes
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill
salt and freshly ground black pepper
Break the cauliflower into small florets.
Trim the celery and peel the carrots and cut them both diagonally into thickish slices.
Halve the cucumber, scoop out the seeds with a teaspoon and slice across into half-moons.
Halve the peppers, remove the seeds and cut the flesh into 1 cm (½ in) pieces.
Top and tail the beans, mangetout and sweetcorn and peel the button onions.
Put all the vegetables except the cherry tomatoes into a large pan with the vinegar, spices, garlic and sugar. Season with some salt and pepper, bring to the boil and simmer for just 5 minutes, carefully turning them over every now and then.
Transfer the mixture to a glass bowl, stir in the whole cherry tomatoes, olive oil and dill, cover and leave the mixture somewhere cool to marinate overnight.
The next day, spoon the vegetables into sterilized jars (see here) and seal. Store in a cool dark place for 1 week before eating. Store in the fridge once opened and eat within 1 week.
Japanese-style Cucumber and Red Onion Relish
Try this fresh Oriental relish with Crispy Chicken-thigh Brochettes (see here) or Clare’s Chinese Crispy Bubbled Belly Pork (see here).
Serves 6
1 large cucumber
2 small red onions, thinly sliced
3 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon dried chilli flakes
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh coriander
Using a swivel-style peeler, remove alternate strips of peel from the cucumber so that it is striped with green and white. Halve the cucumber lengthways and use a teaspoon to scoop out the seeds.
Thinly slice the cucumber diagonally and place in a large bowl with the red onion, vinegar, salt and chilli flakes and set aside for an hour or so until the vegetables have wilted.
Drain the relish to remove any excess liquid, then stir in the coriander. Chill until ready to serve.
This is always a winner. Once you’ve tried it, you’ll be back for more – and it goes with absolutely anything.
Serves 4
1–2 tablespoons sunflower oil
1 onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 red chillies, seeded and finely chopped
juice of 1 orange
1 tablespoon clear honey
1 tablespoon malt vinegar
2 tablespoons tomato ketchup
Heat the oil in a small pan and cook the onion for 2–3 minutes. Add the garlic and chillies and cook for a further 2 minutes until softened. Stir in the orange juice, honey, vinegar and tomato ketchup and simmer gently for 5 minutes. Serve warm or cold.
You can make this tangy American-style relish some time in advance because it will keep, very much like jam, for two to three months in a cool, dark place. This is just the thing to make a beefburger heaven.
Serves 6–8
½ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon plain flour
¼ teaspoon English mustard powder
a good pinch of ground turmeric
40 g (1½ oz) caster sugar
150 ml (5 fl oz) distilled malt vinegar
75 g (3 oz) white cabbage, cored and finely shredded
½ small onion, thinly sliced
1 small red pepper, seeded and chopped
1 small green pepper, seeded and chopped
275 g (10 oz) can sweetcorn, drained
Sift the salt, flour, mustard powder and turmeric together into a pan.
Stir in the sugar and vinegar and cook over a low heat for a few minutes until the sugar has dissolved.
Bring the mixture to the boil, add the cabbage and the onion and simmer for 10 minutes.
Stir in the red and green pepper and simmer for 15 minutes, stirring now and then.
Add the sweetcorn and simmer for 2 minutes. Spoon the mixture into sterilized jars (see here), seal and leave to cool.
This will keep in a cool, dark place for up to 3 months. Store in the fridge once opened and use within 1 week.
Speedy Tomato and Red Pepper Chutney
This chutney is very quick and easy to make and goes exceptionally well with any sausages, especially the Herby Home-made Sausagemeat Patties here.
Serves 6–8
1 large onion, roughly chopped
1 large red pepper, seeded and chopped
15 g (½ oz) butter
1 tablespoon sunflower oil
½ teaspoon paprika
2 tablespoons demerara sugar
200 g (7 oz) can chopped tomatoes
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon tomato purée
salt and freshly ground black pepper
Fry the onion and the red pepper in the butter and oil for 5 minutes until soft. Add the paprika and fry for 1 minute.
Add 1 tablespoon of the sugar and cook for a further 5 minutes, stirring now and then until the mixture has lightly caramelized.
Stir in the remaining ingredients, season with salt and pepper and leave the mixture to simmer for 10 minutes. You can serve this hot or cold with any barbecued meats.
See also
Red onion marmalade here
This is a lovely, soft chutney that’s especially nice served with fish.
Makes 1 litre (1¾ pints)
1 kg (2¼ lb) fresh rhubarb, cut into 1 cm (½ in) lengths
175 ml (6 fl oz) freshly squeezed orange juice
2 large onions, finely chopped
4 cm (1½ in) piece root ginger, finely chopped
600 ml (1 pint) malt vinegar
400 g (14 oz) soft brown sugar
1 teaspoon allspice berries
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Place all the ingredients in a large pan. Bring to the boil, then cover and simmer gently for 1½ hours. Pour into a kilner jar, seal and leave to cool. Store in the fridge for up to a couple of weeks after opening.
For prolonged storage pack this chutney into a sterilized jar (see here) and store in a cool, dark place for at least a month. Once opened, keep in the fridge and eat within a couple of weeks.
Wilmington’s Pickled Watermelon Rind
Now, this is most definitely the trendiest pickle going. It’s a Southern American relish that’s hitting all the latest London cafés and it really tastes great served with simple barbecued fish.
After you’ve eaten the watermelon, cut back the rind so there are just a few millimetres of red flesh left on it. The rind actually weighs quite a lot, so about a quarter of an average-sized watermelon will yield enough rind to make this quantity of pickle.
Makes 500 ml (17 fl oz)
400 g (14 oz) watermelon rind
25 g (1 oz) salt
150 ml (5 fl oz) white wine vinegar
150 g (5 oz) caster sugar
1 teaspoon allspice berries
1 cinnamon stick
2.5 cm (1 in) piece root ginger
Carefully slice the green skin off the watermelon, then cut the rind into 1 cm (½ in) dice. Place the diced rind in a large bowl and sprinkle over the salt. Leave for 3–4 hours until the rind releases lots of water.
Place the vinegar, sugar, allspice, cinnamon and ginger in a pan and bring to the boil, stirring until the sugar dissolves.
Drain the watermelon rind and rinse well. Add to the vinegar mixture and cook for 30 minutes until the rind is tender. Pour the mixture into a jar, allow to cool, then store in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.