This is the way to pickle onions.

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1.

Always peel your onions first.

Top and tail them neatly and with care.

Wear swimming goggles to protect your eyes.

Removing any damaged remaining skin.

Place a layer of your peeled onions into a vessel/ basin/ crock, cover with plain salt until the onions are almost covered. Repeat the process until your basin is full. Cover with salt completely.

Cover the basin with an inverted plate to prevent the strong smells pervading the house. Leave the onions like this for at least 24 hours.

Meanwhile obtain enough glass jars with tight fitting lids ( jam jars or pickle jars are ideal) make sure they are clean and do not smell of the previous contents.

3.

Do not throw away the saturated onion flavoured wet salt!

This is perfect for cooking or allowing to dry to repeat the pickling process again. Place on a tray and allow to dry in a warm oven not hot, wait until you have finished cooking otherwise it will brown.

4.

Next step remove the onions from the salt which will be very wet with onion juice.  The result will be the onion juice will be drawn out of the onions making them pliant and soft. Do not be alarmed by this. Place the onions into a colander/sieve and rinse quickly with fresh clean water. Place them on a clean dry towel and dry them off.

5.

Fill each jar with the onions, then pour over the malt vinegar. You can if you wish bring the vinegar to a high temperature with spices in it. Allow to cool remove the spices  before adding to onions. I prefer to add my spices neat in the jar and leave them there.

Ensure the lids are clean and tight fitting. cover the jar with cling film before screwing on lid.

6.

For Pickled onions with a really good bite add some dry red chillies, only two or three, no more unless you want to blow your head off.

Allow time for your onions to mature before attempting to eat them. At least two months.

Great with cheddar cheese and home made crusty bread. Make your own bread.

The result will be really crisp onions that will keep for a long time.

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email: grandpa_lew@yahoo.co.uk

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