Spicy Pickled Okra
What is nice about this recipe is that we use the same brine as our Easy Dill Pickles recipe, but we add our choice of hot peppers from our garden. This year, we have a variety of hot peppers to choose from, but some we are not sure of the variety as I didn't write what I planted on the map. I did mark them with plastic marker but the writing wore off. Some we know like tabasco peppers, cayenne, and jalapeno, but others like ring fire and Thai peppers we are not sure of. Let's just say some will be a lot spicier than others. Next year, we will probably cut down on all the varieties.For this recipe, I use pint jars, so that the okra fits the jar about 3-4 inches long. anything longer or larger will not be as tender, at least with my variety. My variety I am growing is clemson spineless, but a fellow gardener has given me emerald and have used both in my batches of spicy dill okra.
Equipment
- Water bath canner
- Canning jar lifter tongs
- Wide mouth funnel
- Magnetic lid lifter
- 8 1-pint canning jars
- 8 each of canning lids and rings
Ingredients
- 7 Pounds of fresh Okra pods small, about 3 inches long or long enough to fit in a pint jar with enough head room
- 2 cups white vinegar
- 6 cups water
- 1/3 cup pickling salt
- 24 cloves of garlic 3 per pint
- Dill seed 1 teaspoon per pint
- Dill weed 1 teaspoon per pint
- 40 whole peppercorns 5 per pint
- 8 hot peppers 1 per pint pint
- 1 teaspoons Ball brand pickle crisp granules 1/8 teaspoon per jar
Instructions
- Wash jars, lids, and rings in hot soapy water and rinse well. Sterilize the 8 pint canning jars in boiling water for at least 10 minutes. Do not boil the lids. Please follow the instructions for sterilizing that comes with your jars or lids or visit a canning website like Ball.
- Wash okra. Trim stems of okra, I like using my kitchen scissors.
- In a large pot, combine the vinegar, water and pickling salt and bring the brine to a rapid boil.
- In each jar, place 3 cloves of garlic (or more to suit your taste), 1 teaspoon dill seed, 1 teaspoon dill weed, 1 hot pepper (jalapeno I slice in rings. For others, I slice long way in two) 1/8 teaspoon Pickle Crisp granules, 5 whole peppercorns, then enough okra to fill the jar and be packed tight.
- Fill jars with hot brine while leaving 1/2 inch of headspace. Wipe off rim of any residue. Place lid on and then ring. Tighten only finger-tip tight. Do not over-tighten them, or it might not seal properly.
- Process sealed jars in a boiling water bath. Process pint jars for 15 minutes. Start timing when water starts boiling again.
Notes
- One thing you need to be careful is not to slice the pod open or force it to burst when inserting in the pint jar, as it could cause the brine liquid to go down and not cover the okra fully.
- If you have fresh dried dill seed heads and sprigs use these in place of dried dill seed and dried dill weed.
- Jarred Garlic that is chopped can be used instead of fresh. 1/2 teaspoon equals one garlic clove.
- When pickling okra, I also made dill pickles, as both were ready at the same time from my garden. So, I made a little more brine. Any leftover brine, I put in quart jars and refrigerated to be used in a few days with another batch.
- If you don't like spice, leave out the hot peppers.