Text & Photo:
Julie Schwietert Collazo
**
Pickled carrots from Sumathi Indian Restaurant, Belize City
is the taste you’ve come to associate with a place or experience. And even better- it doesn’t take up any space in your luggage.
I first had these pickled carrots back in January, when I visited Belize City’s Sumathi Restaurant with Kristin Fuhrmann-Simmons (if you’re not reading her food and travel blog, I highly recommend it). When I landed in Belize City last week, I was already thinking about the carrots and jonesing for another batch of them. I checked into my hotel and then hustled over to Sumathi as fast as I could.
The only reason I was glad Kristin wasn’t with me was because I could have the carrots all to myself. They satisfy so many of the textures and tastes I crave, especially crunchy and spicy. I had to have the recipe.
When the woman who had served my lunch finished her own meal–a snapper that a local fisherman had brought into the restaurant, dripping with water from his cooler, which the cook promptly snatched up and fried–I asked her if she’d share the recipe. “You just chop the carrots, add olive oil, garlic, chili, and mustard seed,” she said. “Leave it out for three days. Then, you can put it in the fridge for a couple weeks.”
I wrote down the ingredients dutifully, but as a person who tends to follow recipes until I get a dish down pat, I did a bit of Googling to make sure I got my proportions in balance. My modification of Sumathi’s recipe, which itself was modified by this recipe, follows:
INGREDIENTS
-2 large carrots, cut into thick matchsticks
-1.5 teaspoons of kosher salt (not the very coarse kind)
-1.5 teaspoons of mustard seeds (whole mustard seeds, ground in a mortar and pestle)
-3/4 teaspoon of chili powder
-1/2 teaspoon of turmeric
-3/4 tablespoon of lemon juice
-2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
-3 large cloves of garlic, sliced thinly
INSTRUCTIONS
-Cut the carrots into matchsticks; wrap in a towel to make sure all water has been extracted. (From previous pickling attempts–with ginger and radishes– I’ve learned that retained water kills crunch).
-Mix all the remaining ingredients and whisk well; then pour over the carrots.
-Put the carrots in a glass jar. Leave the jar out for 24-48 hours; after that, refrigerate.
-See how long your pickled carrots last.
