Pickled tomatoes and aubergines

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Pickles are popular in Azerbaijan as an accompaniment to a main dish or as a starter, and are often served as one of a selection of appetizers.

This recipe is similar to the one for pickled stuffed aubergines, but uses a different marinade. Small aubergines (eggplants) produce the best results in this pickle.

Preparation time: 60 min
Cooking time: 35 min
Serves: 5-6

Ingredients

• 5 aubergines (eggplants)
• 1 large bunch of parsley
• 1 bunch of mint
• 1 bunch of dill
• 3 bayleaves
• 5 allspice peppercorns
• 5 black peppercorns
• 2-3 garlic cloves
• 5 firm green-red tomatoes
• sugar
• salt
• vinegar essence

Preparation

• Wash the herbs and chop finely. Finely chop the garlic and add to the herbs. Add salt.
• Top and tail and wash the aubergines (they have to be small). Slit them lengthways through the "stomach". Salt the slit and set aside for 30 to 60 minutes to extract the bitterness. Rinse thoroughly.
• Bring a pan of salted water to the boil and add the aubergines. If the aubergines are very small, then blanch them for 2 to 3 minutes. Blanch for longer if the aubergines are larger. The blanched aubergines should not be as firm as when fresh, but they should not be soft either.
• Strain the aubergines through a colander. As soon as they have started to cool, put them on a clean, old tea towel (juice from the aubergines will stain the towel). Cover with another tea towel. Put a heavy object on top of the aubergines and leave them for 3 hours. (One method is to cover the aubergines with a chopping board and then place a saucepan of water on top of the board.)
• Put some 50 g/2 oz herb stuffing into each aubergine.
• Put the bayleaves, peppercorns, allspice and garlic cloves in the bottom of a sterilized 3-litre jar or kilner jar. Stack the tomatoes on top, followed by the aube
• Mix a marinade of water and vinegar. Add sugar and salt. Pour over the aubergines and tomatoes.
• Sterilize the jars in boiling water for 30-35 minutes.