With a great ‘crop’ of nasturtium self-established this year and now going to seed, I decided to revisit making Nasturtium Pod Pickles (aka Poor Man’s Capers). They taste surprisingly like capers, only a bit more peppery. You can use them in any recipe that calls for capers: pasta, salad, and tartare sauce.
Pick as many nasturtium pods as you want or can – you can scale the recipe up or down accordingly.
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- Nasturtium seed pods
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- Nasturtium seed pods
1 cup nasturtium seed pods (harvest when young and light green)
1/4 cup salt
2 cups water
1 cup apple cider vinegar
1-2 tbsp sugar
1 bay leaf
Separate the pods into individual seeds, and give them a quick rinse to remove any dirt.
Make a brine by dissolving the salt in the water in a jar. Then add the seed pods. Brining helps mellow out the strong mustardy flavour.
Keep the seed pods submerged (you can put a plastic bag over the top and push it down into the middle) and leave in the brine for a couple of days at room temperature.
Remove seed pods from brine. Soak in cold water for an hour. Drain.
Put vinegar and sugar in a small saucepan. Dissolve the sugar over low heat and bring to just simmering.
Put your seeds in hot, sterilised jar(s). Cover with hot vinegar and add a bay leaf. Seal.
They will last indefinitely in the fridge.
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- Cleaned nasturtium seed pods
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- Brine
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- Soak pods for a couple of days
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- Rinse and drain brined pods
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- Heat vinegar and sugar
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- Pour vinegar over pods in a jar
If you have extra vinegar left over you can make a quick pickle of whatever vegetables you have available. Add spices like fennel seeds, mustard seeds or chilli flakes if you want. Store in a jar in the fridge.
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