Homemade Trade: Make Pickles - Cook It! August Resolution: Curry Pickle Slices

Making pickles is already one of my preserving pastimes. And out of everything I've made, my hands-down favorites are these Curry Pickle Slices. Last year's supply didn't last long, so I made a few batches earlier in the summer for the June food swap, but as pickling cucumber season was beginning to wane I had to squeak some more in during August. So they are the perfect fit for the August "make pickles" resolution for Cook It! 2012.

If you are making pickle chips of any kind, I highly recommend using a mandoline. This is not only about a thousand times faster than slicing them with a knife (no joke), but will ensure your slices are uniformly thick and they'll look nice too.

For most pickle chip recipes you'll need to plan on two days. The first one you prepare your vegetables and leave them in salt overnight to remove excess moisture. The second day you make the brine and get them into jars. If you are not a home canner, you could easily make a half batch and keep them in your fridge. I bet they wouldn't last long at all.

Curry Pickle Slices

Adapted from The Complete Book of Small-Batch Preserving by Ellie Top

Makes 4 pint jars

8 cups pickling cucumbers, sliced

3 small onions

1 tablespoon pickling salt

2¾ cups cider vinegar

1¾ cups sugar

1 tablespoon curry powder

2 teaspoons pickling spice (Penzey's has a great one, or you can make your own)

1 teaspoon each: celery seeds and yellow mustard seeds

Remove the cucumber ends and then cut into thick slices. Thinly slice your onions and place with the cucumber in a large non-reactive bowl. Sprinkle with pickling salt and let stand, covered, for 24 hours.

Drain the cucumbers and rinse them twice with cold water, draining thoroughly.

Combine your remaining ingredients: vinegar, sugar, curry powder, pickling spice, celery and yellow mustard seeds — and bring to a boil over high heat in non-reactive pan.

Add the cucumbers and onions and return just to a boil before removing from heat.

Remove hot jars from the canner and fill with vegetables, using a slotted spoon to remove from the pickling liquid. Pack into jars and pour in liquid, leaving 1/2 inch headspace.

Process 10 minutes for pint jars and 15 minutes for quart jars.

Note: I've increased the amount of pickling liquid in this recipe adaptation as I always seem to be just a little bit short, and it is much better to have an excess than not enough to properly pickle all your hard work.