This is a recipe that is traditional to my native cuisine. I was thinking how best to translate to English, “Kurumulagai Uppile Pottathu” as we call refer to this pickle. Fresh Green Pepper Pickled in Brine seems the best way. That brought to mind the tongue twister about pickled peppers. Do you know it?
“Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers,
A peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked;
If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers,
Where’s the peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked?”
I have memories as a child, of working on this till I could say it quickly without making a mistake. I can still say it fast, after all these years. Funny, how I considered this a huge achievement as a child!
Peppercorns are the fruit of Piper nigrum, an evergreen climbing vine native to the forests of India’s Malabar Coast . My home state of Kerala is a part of this geographical area. Today, pepper is one of spices that are exported in large quantities from India.
Black, white and green peppercorns are all products of the same plant. Each type of pepper is harvested and handled differently. Tender green pepper is harvested when the berries are immature (haven’t ripened). They’re bottled in brine to preserve them. Otherwise they start drying out and turning black. Green pepper can also be freeze dried.
When the green peppercorns turn mature they’re picked and then sun dried. These become the black pepper that we’re familiar with. White peppercorns are produced when the outed black covering is removed. When the green berries are allowed to ripen on the vine, they turn a deep pink and are processed to produce pink peppercorns.
Back home in my Palakkad Iyer community, immature green peppercorns are pickled in brine. This makes a wonderful pickle to serve with plain rice and yogurt (or curd rice as we call it here). The green peppercorns have a fresh flavour, are crunchy and less pungent.
Green peppercorn vines
I remember this green peppercorn pickle from my teens. Green pepper was not commonly available at the market. Yet there was always someone we knew who grew it in their back yard and would gift us some during the season. It has long been one of my favourite pickles. It is never an easy decision choosing between this one and mango pickle, my other favourite!
It’s been a while since I had Fresh Green Pepper Pickled in Brine. Fresh green pepper is scarce in parts of India where I have lived so far. Even in Kerala, green pepper is hard to find because farmers get better prices for dehyrated pepper. Green pepper also does not keep very long unless it is processed or preserved. Green peppercorn seems to be easier to find in Palakkad. My Periamma (my mother’s elder sister) lives there and usually has a couple of bottles pickled and ready to serve. The last time we visited, she gifted me a bottle of the pickle which I used very judiciously.
Ripe peppercorns which are processed to pink peppercorn
Last month, my daughter and her classmates went to a spice farm, as part of a school trip. She went with express instructions not to bring back any spices. My spice shelf was overflowing as it was. At some point of the day, the kids took a break and sat down somewhere on the farm. My daughtera discovered green pepper growing on some vines just next to them. She got permission, enlisted the help of her friends and brought home a whole bunch of fresh green pepper stalks.
I wasn’t very sure about how to pickle them so I called my aunt. This pickle recipe is how she makes Fresh Green Pepper Pickled in Brine. I don’t think pickle making can get any easier than this. It doesn’t even involve any chopping beyond slicing some limes. My aunt’s recipe, like most traditional recipes, doesn’t have exact measurements. It’s more of a set of instructions. I have quantified her approximations so please use this recipe as a guide.
The brine solution will be quite salty and after about a week, the peppercorn will have absorbed enough of the salt to also taste just right. If you feel that the peppercorn isn’t salty enough, you may add a little more salt to the brine solution at this time.
It is important to remember a few things while making this pickle. The green pepper should be washed and patted dry. Let it dry on a kitchen towel in the fresh air for a couple of hours. Do not pickle wet or damp green pepper or your pickle may spoil. The green peppercorns should not be removed from the stalk as you pickle them with the stalks. A few loose peppercorns are fine, though. Just put them into the bottle/ jar.
The pepper has to be pickled fresh, preferably the very day it is plucked from the vine. Don’t postpone the pickling beyond the next day or the peppercorn start discolouring and turning black. When the stalks are pickled, ensure they are completely immersed in brine or they will turn blackish in colour.
Fresh Green Pepper Pickled in Brine
Ingredients
- 10 to 12 bunches fresh green pepper
- 250 ml water
- 3/4 tsp turmeric powder
- 2 lemons
- 2 heaped tsps salt
Instructions
- Wash the peppercorn and dry them by wiping gently with a towel, making sure the stalks are intact. Keep aside.
- In a pan, bring the water to a boil and add the salt and turmeric powder. Simmer for a couple of minutes and take it off the heat. Allow the brine solution to cool down. Add the lemon juice and stir well. Pour this into a sterile glass bottle/ jar. Put the peppercorn stalks into the bottle/ jar, ensuring they are completely submerged in the solution.
- Close the bottle and keep it at room temperature. After a week, the pickle is ready to be served. This pickle does not require refrigeration. The peppercorn stalks will change to a somewhat dull and dirty greenish colour after being in the brine. This is normal and doesn't change the quality of the pickle.
I'm Aparna and My Diverse Kitchen is my ovo-lacto vegetarian food blog where you'll find recipes, food stories & photography. I've been blogging since 2007 and believe the kitchen, and the dining table (by extension) is really the heart of a home. 
Agastya loves tongue twisters and manages to say them without batting an eyelid;this is one of his favourites :-DLovely recipe 🙂
i grew up in the land of peppercorns but have never seen this pickled green pepper. can’t even guess how that must taste!
That’s great, Sunita.My daughter is good with quite a few and she’s practising this one now.:DI understand, Nags.I have seen this pickle in many Palakkad Iyer homes yet many of my Malayali friends had never heard of this before, despite pepper being so common in Kerala.
That is simple indeed! :DI have never seen or heard of this before…
Anything called pickle ,tickles my taste budsAnd this is such a simple method,i guess i can use some other veggies too to pickle, keeping the base sameAny ideas??
sounds yum aparna. I had green peppercorns for the first time last year. Had a different version though. My relative had mixed it along with the instant mango pickle (where you mix chilli powder and salt and temper it with mustard seeds and hing). It tasted yum.
I haven’t seen the green ones, and am wondering how amazing this must taste!
Betty Botter bought a bit of butter but the butter was a bit bitter so … I’ve made this and had this – I love green pepper, buy it whenever I see it, which isn’t often.
Mine had some mango ginger in it too!
I have never seen these pickles..This is new..Love pickles..Should try and taste them…
I have to teach this to my daughter, she loves the tongue twisters.. her most recent is the Betty Botter right now (Oh I just saw SRA’s comment).I have never seen this green peppercorn! wonder how it would taste.
hi, aparna, The photos are so beautiful and at this time of the year & reminded me of the pickles i used to prepare when I was in India, I used to pickle, Manga Ingi, green pepper corns, green chillies, Maakli beru & lime!!!, Oh! ur photo is making my mouth water, I do not get them here, ur discriptions of the farm & everything is making me homesick!!!. but, I have never tried the way u have done them, must tell mom to do it that way, & try it when I go there!!!….
Amma makes this every year with green pepper and mango ginger. I love popping a little in the mouth… aise hi… helps kill and nausea 🙂
One omy favorite pickle. Amma used to add some lemon pieces to it instead of juice. We had some pepper vines in our backyard. So the supply was not a problem. And I miss that now.
A very simple and tasty pickle. I usually add lemon and manga inji to mine.
This is new to me…but looks really interesting…
It was really clever of Akshaya to bring this from the farm.I have not made these at home .Here we use brined green peppers for making a sauce called green peper sauce for steak, which hubby and shyama loves.
Aparna, that’s a tongue-twister and a tongue-tickler! What a delicious-sounding pickle.About your question on the egg replacer, I’d advise substituting an equal amount of cornflour or — at a pinch — even rice flour (very, very finely ground). Egg replacer is just a combination of various starches.The nuttiness of flax could be just a tad overpowering in these delicately-flavored cookies.
I’ve never seen fresh peppercorns before and I can imagine how great these will be for your future recipes.
I have never tasted this pickle.. We get fresh pepper from my uncles farm. Will send this across to mom. My hubby loves pickles 😀
hey..I remember that tongue twister from school. You brought back memories. Would love to taste that pickle Aparna. I don’t think I’m going to find those kinds of peppers here. And yes, very enterprising of your daughter!
I wont even attempt the tonguetwister.Love the recipe,but I agree with Nags.Never seen the pickle or even green peppercorn in bulk.I expect it to be hot and spicy,with the lemons adding a tang ummmmmmm :P.WOW I must add.
Alka,Mango ginger is one thing you can pickle this way.You can also make a similar pickle with lemon pieces, ginger and green chillies in brine but you don’t need to add the lemon juice. You could add sticks of carrot too.Vibhaas,This is new to me, but sounds good. Shall try it that way when I lay my hands on some more pepper.Sra, that “bitter butter” one Akshaya does well. My favourite is “she sells seashells on the seashore…..”!So this brought back fond foodie memories, Jayasri.:)Pepper for nausea…. Diidn’t know this one. Must remember it Raaga.I have read about the pepper sauce, HC.Thanks, Vaishali. Shall try it with cornflour.
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I have never seen fresh peppercorns. first time i saw in you pics. lovely one.
First time I am seeing fresh peppercorn. Pickling sounds tasty and never tasted too! U sweet daught is really cool to bring some for u 🙂
They look so beautiful in the jar! Thanks for sharing your recipe with Grow Your Own.
I linked to your site from “Grow Your Own” – Andrea – and was inspired to go out and get a peppercorn plant. The garden store had one in stock. I love growing spices and most do very well here in Hawaii.
I love learning new things about food. Nojust need to find some peppercorns. The picture is gorgeous and sunsoaked, not overexposed. thanks
Hi Aparna,Thank you so much for posting this recipe, it’s exactly what I was looking for. We grow black pepper commercially and I’m always looking for ways to use pepper, this is perfect! I wish I could send you some more green stalks, but I think they would blacken by the time the reached you, come visit our farm athttp://theislandfarm.blogspot….thanks again, Ancel
Thanks Ancel, for offering to send me some pepper. Yes, they wouldn’t last but the thought counts. :)Luckily for me, pepper grows well here.
My son has sent me 1kg. peppercorn from Bangluru yesterday. Trying your recipe today.
A kg, wow! Hope you enjoy the pickle.
Hi ! Nice website !
I planted a few pepper plants 3 years ago. Now (it takes about 2 years to start producing…) the peppercorns, green, red and black are extremely hot, much more than even Thai Bird’s Eye Chiles…
Howver, I must say that ‘pink” peppercorns is not the same specie.
A pink peppercorn is a dried berry of the shrub Schinus molle, commonly known as the Peruvian peppertree.
The “pink” in India, is a ‘red’ (real) peppercorn… (I used to live in India, a LOOONG time ago, Bombay and Calcutta…)
Cheers, Chris