Pique - Puerto Rican hot sauce the Indian way

Some people like it hot some like it sweet. In my case I like them both equally and there in lies my food problem. I tried to avoid stealth sugary foods like flavored yogurts, smoothies and fat free everything but try is the operative word here. Without the stealth there are quite a lot of straight forward sugary stuff that I tend to eat knowing fully well what they are. To compensate this sugar eating not exactlyI also go overboard eating spicy foods Indian pickles being foremost.

Unfortunately all this had to come to an end when someone pointed to my expanding bottom and middle. Did they really have to? The reins have to be thrown in and something done about it. My complacency came from the fact that I exercise regularly. I had portion control under control for a while till I let it fall in the wayside again because I exercise. Anyway no more blinkers on, back to belt tightening. This does not mean I am going on a crash diet or any such thing just that I have started exercising portion control again, controlling the snacking and trying to put control on runaway carb consumption.

Spring and Summer are the perfect times to start eating less carbs as there are a lot more vegetables and fruits to choose from. Took a leaf out of Nupur's philosophy of regular pantry cleanout and starting to whittle down my collection of lentils and beans.

Now to the recipe,

I found a recipe for Pique in the lifestyle book our realtor sends regularly. I have never heard of Pique before. This spicy vinegar soaked vegetables is right up my alley. I started a search of Pique recipes to see how they are made and their variations. The one I saw in the book and what I found online were very different. I found out that Pique is usually made with vinegar and fruit juices - pineapple rinds. I did not have pineapples and so followed the recipe in the book which made no mention of pineapples. I used cilantro seeds instead of the leaves that the recipe called for and completely omitted any oil. It is so very easy to put together and a condiment suitable on all kinds of things. Any crunchy vegetable will work here.

I don't think the peppers or the other vegetables in the pique are eaten but are more for flavoring the vinegar which is the condiment is used for seasoning. The vinegar gets topped to keep it going for a long time. My purpose was totally different I wanted the vinegary vegetables rather than the vinegar itself. But hey the end use is up to you. I do not use oregano which is the herb used for seasoning so I skipped that one.

Pique - Puerto Rican hot sauce
Preparation Time:10 minutes
Cooking Time:20 minutes
Ingredients

1. 4 Cherry Peppers and+ Serrano chilies + 6-8 Thai chilies (use any you have on hand)
2. 6-8 cloves of garlic
3. 2 inch piece of ginger peeled and sliced thin
4. thinly sliced carrots (I did not use them)
5. 1/2 tsp of coriander seeds
6. 1/2 tsp of peppercorns
7. 1 tsp kosher salt or sea salt (non-iodine salt works best)
8. a pinch of sugar
9. 4 cups of distilled white vinegar
10. juice from half a lime
11. Keep Ready: Clean glass jars for storing the pique

Method

1. Slice the chilies in half and remove the seeds. (If you are only going to use the vinegar just make slits and leave the chilies whole).
2. Bring 1 cup of water to boil and add the chilies, garlic, ginger and the carrots, leave for a minute or two and drain completely. Add them to the glass jars. Add the salt and sugar to the jar.
3. Heat the vinegar to just below boiling, squeeze the lime and add the vinegar to the glass jar over the vegetables.
4. Gently pound the coriander seeds and pepper corns and add them to the jar.
5. Let it cool and come to room temperature. Cover with a white cloth and place the jar lid and let sit in the sun for a couple of days before using.
Works great over steamed vegetables, rice and as a condiment for pretty much anything.