Torshi
The pink pickled turnips that come free with every plate of ta'ameya in Egypt. Beetroot does the colouring; the turnip does everything else.
Photograph credit: Torshi at Gad in Alexandria by Marsupium · CC BY 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
One piece of raw beetroot colours an entire jar, and more than that turns the brine muddy and gives the turnips an earthy flavour that fights the vinegar. The other rule is a properly saline brine: pickles that go slimy or cloudy have almost always been under-salted, because salt is what suppresses the wrong bacteria while the lactic fermentation gets going. Weigh the salt rather than measuring it by spoon.
Questions About Torshi
How long does Torshi take to make?
25 minutes of preparation and 5 minutes of cooking, plus 1 week of pickling, so allow 1 week from start to finish. The method also needs time for cooling completely, which it does not time, so treat that as a minimum. The recipe serves 12.
How to Make Torshi
Tap a step to highlight it, or turn on Cook Mode for large type and step-by-step focus.
-
Sterilise a 2-litre jar and its lid with boiling water and let it dry.
-
Bring the water, salt and sugar to a simmer, stirring until fully dissolved, then take off the heat and add the vinegar. Cool completely.
-
Pack the turnip batons upright into the jar with the garlic, coriander seeds and bay leaves.
-
Tuck the beetroot wedges down the sides. Use no more than four — the colour spreads a long way.
-
Pour over the cold brine until everything is submerged, leaving 2 cm of headspace.
-
Push the vegetables under the surface with a small weight or a folded cabbage leaf. Anything above the brine will spoil.
-
Seal and leave at cool room temperature for at least 7 days, by which time the pink will have reached the centre. Refrigerate once open.
Related guide: Prep, cook and total time.
Something wrong or unclear in this recipe? Report a problem with this recipe.
Worth Getting Right
- One small beetroot for a whole jar. More makes it muddy.
- Weigh the salt. Under-salted brine goes slimy.
- Everything must stay under the brine.
Swaps and Variations
- An eighth of a teaspoon of garlic powder per clove is the stand-in usually given when you are out of fresh garlic; it will not brown the same way, and it burns easily, so add it with the liquid.
- A dry vermouth keeps for longer than an open bottle of white wine and is the closer swap than a random white left in the fridge; for an alcohol-free version, use the same amount of stock with a squeeze of lemon.
Serve It With
Ta'ameya · Koshari · Grilled meat
Keeping and Reheating
Refrigerated for 2 months once opened; the texture softens slowly. Discard if the brine turns cloudy or smells wrong.
Nutrition per Serving
Per serving, an approximate calculation from the ingredient list. Treat it as a rough guide: the marinade or brine is counted in full, though some is discarded; part of the energy comes from foods, or weights per item, with no recorded source. How the figures are worked out.
Your notes on this recipe
Cooked this? Keep a note for next time
Compiled by Turab
Checked by script for timings, diet labels and nutrition arithmetic. How the recipes are checked. Found a mistake? Tell us.
First published ; last changed .
You Might Also Like
More Egyptian cooking and appetizers ideas from Weekly Delight.
Dukkah
Toasted nuts, seeds and spices pounded to a dry rubble, eaten by dipping bread in oil and then in the dukkah. Every…
Tzatziki
Thick strained yogurt, grated cucumber squeezed dry, garlic, dill and good olive oil. Made properly it is dense…
Harissa
Dried chillies rehydrated and pounded with garlic, caraway and coriander seed into a coarse red paste. Nothing like…
Chimichurri
Finely chopped parsley, garlic, oregano, red wine vinegar and olive oil, left to stand until the garlic softens. The…
Tapenade
Black olives, capers, anchovy and garlic pounded to a rough paste. Named for the capers — tapena — which everyone…
Toum
Garlic and oil beaten to a stiff white emulsion with nothing else in it but lemon and salt. No egg, no dairy — the…