Torshi Liteh | Iranian mixed vegetable pickle | ترشی لیته

Iran's popular relish is packed with vegetables, herbs and spices. My Torshi Liteh recipe, adapted from my Iranian family friend, has layers of flavour with smoked aubergine, tarragon and rose. Torshi (ترشی) means pickle and Liteh (لیته) means cooked and smashed aubergine. My recipe has been adapted from my partner's Aunt's version. She uses a lovely blend of herbs and spices including tarragon and rose petals. We added smoked aubergine to give another layer of deep flavour. Of course, you can try different vegetables, herbs and spice combinations. I encourage you to work with ingredients you have locally or already in your kitchen.

Iranian Pickles

Iran has many traditional types of pickle. I am excited to share this recipe with you and hope to share more soon! Many herbs, seeds and spices are used to flavour Iranian pickles. Iranian vinegar is made from dates in warmer southern regions or apples, grapes and other fruit in other regions of the country. Most pickles can be made with either cider vinegar or wine vinegar.

What do you eat Torshi Liteh with?

Torshi Liteh tastes strong from the herbs, spices and vinegar so you only need a little on your plate to change your dining experience. This pickle goes particularly well with oily foods because the strong spices and vinegar help balance out heavier flavours. Traditionally, Torshi Liteh is particularly served with minced meat kebab but can go with a variety of Iranian (or other) dishes such as:

The Pickling Process

Salt, sugar and/or vinegar preserves ingredients in pickles. This relish uses vinegar which means it hasn't fermented. I have designed this recipe as a quick pickle that can be eaten after a couple of days resting. It can be kept in the fridge 2-4 weeks. It is not canned so shouldn't be kept for longer but it is still important to sterilise your jars. This recipe produces about one litre of relish. You can put it in one large or several small jars. I do this by washing them in warm soapy water, rinsing and then filling with boiling water. Then leave to air dry. If you do this, be careful when using glass and hot water. You can find further information on how to sterilise your jars and canning and pickling processes here as well as other online websites.
Prep Time: 20 mins
Ingredients
  • 3 aubergines
  • 3 tomatoes
  • 3 carrots
  • 1 small chilli pepper
  • 3 garlic cloves
  • 1 green pepper
  • 50 g flat parsley
  • 1 tbsp mint leaves
  • 1 tbsp other herbs such as tarragon (optional)
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 0.5 tsp ground black pepper
  • 0.5 tsp turmeric
  • 1 tsp ground rose petal
  • 200 ml vinegar (cider or wine vinegar)
    • Equipment
  • jar(s) and lid(s)
  • sauce pan
  • large bowl
Instructions
  1. Sterilise and dry your jar(s).
  2. Smoke one aubergine on an open flame until the flesh is soft throughout. Peel off the charred skin and chop the aubergine flesh.
  3. Peel the remaining two aubergines and chop into 1cm cubes. Place both raw and smoked aubergine into a sauce pan. Blend the tomatoes in a food processor and add to the pan. Cook on a low heat with a lid until soft and the water from the tomatoes has gone. Leave to cool.
  4. Meanwhile, grate the carrots (larger size) and chop the pepper, garlic (finely), chilli (finely) and herbs. Once the cooked mixture is cool, mix all the ingredients together.
  5. Fill your jars and leave for a couple of days to ferment before serving. This will keep up to a month if kept in the fridge.
Recipe Notes

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