chow-chow. its a southern thang.. ya wouldnt understand. LOLOLOL
it goes on everything, or in it. well, almost anyhoo. use it in place of pickle relish in any recipe that calls for that. i.e. tater salad, devilled eggs, etc..
on hot dogs, a spoonful in the BBQ sauce, its best tho as a spoonful over a serving of blackeyed peas or even better purplehulls. been made in my family for generations and the recipe is quite close to my great-grandmothers. lots of variations for sure but to technically be "chow-chow" its GOT to have the cardamom in it. aside from that its pretty much whats left in the garden the day before first freeze. ive heard about a hot pepper chow chow... we make something very similar but call it simply "pepper relish". also make jelly and jam out of hot peppers too. yummy.
we make this stuff in the fall right before first frost when we have ample supply of the tomatoes it calls for. we give a lot of it away and friends and family constantly ask for more. its a lot of work but well worth it. this recipe has jalepenos in it but its not hot at all. the heat gets lost in the mix. i will often split a batch and make half w/ jalepenos and half with habeneros for some fire. hope yall enjoy....
chow-chow
10 to 15 lbs green to greenish pink tomatoes.
half a dozen or more big onions
2 bunches of celery
half a dozen each red and green bell peppers
3 or more jalepenos
1 can pitted black olives
1 head (or 2) of cabbage
1 lime. (the whole thing)
run all of this thru a food grinder using a small sized plate. pour off any water that collects in the bowl. add all this to a brine made from the following:
2 quarts vinegar
6 cups brown sugar
2 oz whole mustard seed
1 Tb ground nutmeg
2 tsp ground tumeric
1 Tb ground cardamom
1 Tb ground black pepper
1 Tb garlic powder
1/4 cup pickling salt.
let this sit for 4 to six hours, stirring it up every hour or so. pack into pint mason jars and add some brine to get level in jar 1/4th inch from the top. seal with lids and rings and hot water bath for fifteen minutes.
*the black olives are optional. they dont add much to the party except the chow-chow looks better in the jars with little bits of contrasting color.
** if you arent familiar with ground cardamom then only use the 1 tablespoon the recipe calls for. it wont be strong enough to be dominant but youll know its there. ive made this with 3 Tbs of it in a batch and it was a bit strong but i love the stuff. dont taste the stuff right out of the jar, too pungent.
It sounds good! I just know I couldn't make it LOL! I would have to have someone make me a batch or just buy it outta of a jar which I have seen at swap meets.
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That's a lot different than our chowchow. I like it in pintos.
From the Amish books I've read it's German origin, but I don't know if theirs is anything much like ours. Mom used to can chow chow and there is nothing like good chow chow on a hot summer day.
It's actually pretty good. Here's a recipe for it:
Amish Corn Chow-Chow
1 quart of vinegar
1 quart of string beans
1/2 doz. red peppers
1 pint of lima beans
1 pint of small onions
1 doz. ears of corn
2 tablespoonfuls of salt
1/2 lb. of sugar
1/4 lb. of mustard
Mix mustard and vinegar and bring to a scald. Cook separately the
corn, onions, and beans till tender. Put all the ingredients together, boil only five minutes and seal.
the corn-based relish we call "picalilli" ( pick- a - lilly). mostly corn and cabbage. seen several versions that have some form of beans in them, all those are german/amish in origin. chow-chow is actually Indian. (took me awhile to trace it back that far. guess the cardamom in it was a giveaway) the only reference i could find to justify it in most southern homes is that the sailors involved in the slave trade eons ago brought it to america. what i found out was chow-chow means "pickle with cardamom in it". in this case the term pickle in indian cuisine can oft mean a chutney or relish.
That makes sense, since the Amish seemed to have a great respect for American tribes. That's where their term "pow wow" comes from.
ETA: OK, I reread that and saw you meant actual Indians. Sorry, lol. To me the corn type is different than ours. Ours is very simple, and might be really from Germany. It's mostly cabbage and vinegar and salt.
Sourkraut? Yuck! No, this is different, lol. I can't even bear the smell of sourkraut (it's fermented unlike chow chow), but I can live on chow chow, lol. I'll have to get the recipe from my Mom.
Chow-Chow relish recipe 
