Fermented carrot sticks

This recipe is great for using up a glut of carrots or for doing some advanced lunch prep. It’s also super for packed lunches, picnics, or just around the house snacks these are perfectly delicious on their own, but also make for great dipping.

Ingredients: (makes about 1 litre)
•    400 grams carrots, cut into matchsticks
•    2 cardamom pods, cracked
•    750 millilitres salt brine, 2% (750 ml water & 15g Himalayan Pink or good quality sea salt)

Method:
1.    Put the carrot sticks and cardamom in to the jar. Make your brine solution by dissolving the salt in just enough boiling water and top up to total 400 millilitres with cold filtered water.
2.    Pour over the cooled brine over the veg and use a fermentation weight to keep the fruit submerged. Seal the jar(s).
3.    Allow the carrots to ferment for 10 days to 2 weeks. The brine will go cloudy and fizzy as the veg ferments, but don’t worry this will clear up. Be sure to ferment this out of direct sunlight and somewhere that has a consistent temperature of 20 to 22 celsius.
4.    Once the carrots are ready to eat, store them in the fridge and consume within about 4 to 6 months, but these will keep for longer if left unopened.
#Food savvy tip: Lots of different vegetables can be fermented to preserve them for when they are out of season.

Recipe provided by Nena Foster of Natural Chef for #FoodSavvy Norfolk & Suffolk