Old Fashioned Aussie Pickles.

Peel and chop the carrots to a medium/small dice. Peel and chop the onions as for the carrots. Break the cauliflower up into small florets about 1.5cm in size. Chop the stems and add them as well. Remove the stalks from the beans and chop them up as above. Peel and deseed the choko. Peel them under running water to avoid the gum that is just under the skin from sticking to your hands.

Place the chopped vegetables into a large stainless boiler. Add the salt and enough hot water to fully cover the vegetables. Place a lid on the boiler and leave overnight to pickle or around 8 hours will be sufficient.

Place the flour into a suitably sized mixing bowl. If it's a little lumpy sieve it to remove the lumps. Measure the spices and add to the flour. Mix together thoroughly.

Once the pickling time has elapsed bring the mirepoix to a rolling boil. Boil for 5 minutes. Remove the boiler from the heat. Strain the salt water off the vegetables and remove them to another heavy based non stick boiler. (You can leave them in the original boiler but you will need to stir the pickles more often while they are cooking). Combine the prepared spice mix with the vinegar and mix to completely combine with no trace of lumps. Add the sugar to the vinegar/spice mix and stir to dissolve as much of the sugar as possible. Pour this mixture over the boiled salted mirepoix and combine well. Bring the boiler to a gentle simmer. DO NOT ALLOW TO BOIL! Simmer for an hour stirring frequently and scraping the bottom to ensure that there is nothing stuck to the bottom of the boiler. Taste after an hour has elapsed. The flavour should be acid but sweet with a nice spice hit and not have a burned aftertaste. Be careful when tasting as the temperature will be very high. When you are satisfied with the flavour pour into hot sterilised bottles and seal immediately. Allow a week for the full flavour to develop and they are ready for use.