Torshi Felfel – Persian Pickled Peppers

Persian hot pepper pickle is one of the most popular pickles served with food. It is especially popular among southerners (Jonoob). That’s why I suggest you make this pickle with the hot chili peppers you have available.

Pickled pepper does not need many raw ingredients, its main ingredients include fresh peppers, vinegar, some garlic, and salt.

How to make Persian pickled pepper?

Making this pickled is so easy, follow steps below:

Step 1 – Preparation

First, wash the peppers well. Then put them in a colander to completely remove the water. Next, put the peppers on a clean towel to dry completely.

If their tail is too long, shorten it so that they do not occupy extra space in the jar. It is better not to cut their tail completely, so that they look more beautiful.

Wash the tarragon and garlic and let them dry completely.

Wash the jar as well, then dry it completely with a paper towel so that it does not contain any moisture.

Step 2 – Getting the bitterness of the peppers

If you want to have a perfect pickled pepper, it is better to remove their bitterness with boiling water and salt.

Pour 2 liters of water in a pot. Put on the heat to boil. Add 3 tablespoons of salt. Add pepper and boil for 5 minutes on low heat until they change color a little. The purpose is to add salt to them and remove their bitterness, make sure they are not too soft.

If your peppers are very thin, they don’t need to be heated. Combine boiling water with salt, turn off the heat, and set aside. When it cools down, put the peppers in the pot.

If you wish, you can add a tablespoon of turmeric in the water to get a better color.

Refrigerate the peppers for 24 hours. Allow the peppers to rest in the water and salt mixture. Put a plate on them so that they don’t come out of the water.

Then drain them and spread them on a cloth to dry completely. (Don’t get water on the peppers.) Leave it like this for 24 hours until the pepper juice is completely removed and the pepper becomes dry.

Step 3 – Make holes on the peppers

Make a hole in the peppers with a fork, toothpick or knife. This is for the vinegar to be absorbed by the peppers faster and to have a tastier pickle.

If the peppers are very thin, you don’t need this step.

Step 4 – Pour the peppers into the jar.

In the last step, put the peppers in the jar.

 Place the garlic along with the tarragon (fresh or dry). If you like the salty pepper to be a little pickled, pour a little salt on the peppers.

Next, pour white vinegar so that it completely covers the peppers and completely fill the jar with vinegar. Then close the lid of the jar tightly so that air does not enter it.

Otherwise, the air will be enter and the torshi will moldy. Put it in a cool and dark place.

Notes

• If you don’t have tarragon available, use mint (dry or fresh).
• Since garlic is small, it does not need to be boiled with salt water.
• Fill the pickle jar chock-full of vinegar. If it is not completely filled, the air will draw and the pickle will mold.
• If the pickle lid may be leaking, cover this with a piece of plastic, then close the lid.
• Do not overcook the peppers because they will become very soft. When eating pepper, its firmness should be felt under the teeth.
  If they lose their shape, the pickles end up looking unattractive.
• It is more cute if you use red peppers aside to green peppers.

Pickled pepper is ready after how many days?

Because this pickle is boiled, give it a rest for 10 days. Then it is ready to use.

If the peppers are thin and you haven’t boiled them, they can be use after 2 weeks.

Pickled pepper can be stored in the refrigerator for 6-7 months. After this time, the peppers become too soft because they are very thin and small and it is not attractive.

Which peppers are proper for making Iranian pepper pickle?

Hot chili peppers and fine peppers are the best choice for making pickles. Older peppers ripen later.

In my opinion, sweet green pepper is not a good option, because the origin of Iranian pepper pickles is spicy. Especially the southerners in Iran usually make pickles spicy (Jonoob like Khoozestan, Bandar Abbas, and Booshehr).

What should we do to reduce the sharpness of pepper and vinegar?

Since peppers are hot and vinegar has a sharp taste, it may irritate the throat.

You can put 1/2 spoon of sugar in the pickle jar to reduce the sharpness of the vinegar.

Use red vinegar, which are less spicy. If you like sharpy pickles, use white vinegar.

Conclusion

It is easy to make Iranian-style pickled green pepper and it does not require many raw ingredients. For this reason, its main taste depends on the peppers. So I strongly suggest that you choose hot peppers.

Just be careful that this pickle may not be suitable for heart patients.

This pickle can be served with Iranian dishes such as Persian Abgoosht, types of stews, types of pilaf and kebabs.

If you have tried pickled Iranian hot peppers and enjoyed its heat, tell me your thoughts in the comments. It makes me happy to see your comments.