In Ancient Egypt, mustard was used as respiratory therapy and later, in the Middle Ages, asthma was treated with this pungent, sulphur containing seed. The English physician Herberden also advised the use of mustard seed for the treatment of asthma (Nourishing Traditions).
When the mustard seed is ground, compounds released from the sugar molecule have a strong odor and a subsequently irritating effect on any skin or mucous membranes that come in contact. This may explain its traditional use for respiratory ailments given its almost homeopathic effect on the sinuses and lungs.
Homemade Mustard
When used as a condiment, mustard is usually something people either very much enjoy or totally avoid. There doesn’t seem to be much middle ground when it comes to mustard!
While decent quality organic mustard can be purchased at the healthfood store, it is still better to make it yourself. For one thing, homemade mustard always tastes better. Second, you can lightly ferment the ingredients rendering it even more nutritious, beneficial and potent to the respiratory and digestive systems due to the presence of beneficial probiotics and additional enzymes!
Below is my recipe for homemade yellow mustard. It is very easy to do and a wonderful first condiment to try if you are eager to learn the art of fermentation.
Feel free to play with the spices and adjust to your own personal taste if you prefer your mustard stronger or milder.
Homemade Mustard Recipe
Easy recipe for traditional homemade mustard that is lightly fermented to add probiotics and enzymes to assist with digestion when used with any cooked meal.
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup ground yellow mustard preferably organic
- 1/2 cup raw apple cider vinegar preferably organic; do not use pasteurized ACV
- 1/4 cup filtered water
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 1/4 tsp ground turmeric preferably organic
- 1 pinch garlic powder preferably organic
- 1 pinch paprika preferably organic
Instructions
Mix all ingredients well in a pint size mason jar or two cup sized jars. Leave at least 1 inch at the top else you risk mold on the ferment.
Leave on the counter at room temperature for 1-2 days and then refrigerate.
Fermented homemade mustard will last several months refrigerated.
Recipe Notes
You may use homemade ACV instead of store bought. It is certainly cheaper to make your own!
Sarah, The Healthy Home Economist
Sarah Pope has been a Health and Nutrition Educator since 2002. Her work is dedicated to helping families effectively incorporate the principles of ancestral diets within the modern household. She is a sought after lecturer around the world for conferences, summits, and podcasts.
Her work has been covered by major media including USA Today, ABC, NBC, and many others.
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I never use pre-ground mustard. Always the mustard seeds and grind my own.
I’ve been making my own for a LONG time, but I found this information about two years ago, and I’ve used a couple of the variation methods. http://honest-food.net/2010/10/18/how-to-make-mustard/
Soooo easy and tasty. Nothing like it on a ham sandwich or a French Dip dunker!
Love that idea to grind your own mustard seeds. What do you use to grind them? A babyfood grinder or a food processor? Maybe a flour mill would work?
I like my mustard really smooth and not grainy though .. does your mustard turn out really smooth?
Hi Sarah, I use a Cuisinart grinder (I think it’s probably a coffee bean grinder, I don’t know for sure). I have two of them and I use one for coffee beans only and the other for all types of spices. The longer you grind, the more powdery it gets, but I leave my mustard seeds slightly gritty because we like it that way. If you just keep grinding though they should end up to be a smooth powder. I think you could probably use any of those gadgets you mentioned and end up with something good to use! If you experiment, let us know which machine does the best job of powderizing them, k?
This looks super-easy. We love mustard for salad dressings at my house, and it’ll be great to make our own!
Looks tasty! I definitely will add this to my “try” list in the next week or two. Thank you!
This looks like a great idea. I have been adding sauerkraut, greek yogurt, even kefir to my carb backloading plan, and have noticed a marked improvement in my digestive health. Like everything else, probiotic, I will have to give this a try…haha.
I just pinned it. I will have to try this soon.
It says lactofermented but the recipe has no whey……..
I was just thinking that, Jennifer. Am I missing something, how is it lactofermented?
Oh, heck yes!
You don’t need whey as there is ACV and salt in the recipe already.
Sweet. Can organic acv work if its not raw?
I read that if you add black pepper, the assimilation of turmeric in your body greatly increases.
Wow, at this rate, I won’t have to buy anything pre-packaged again :)! Our family just loves your recipes for homemade cereal, ketchup, teriyaki and bbq sauce. Thank you, Sarah,for all the time you put into creating such yummy and nutritious recipes!
Could you add 1 Tbsp of whey to add to the fermentation process or would it be to “acidy” with the addtion of the cider vinegar?
The NT recipe uses whey and lemon juice. I prefer ACV by itself and it ferments fine. Go ahead and try it though if you like. Fermentation is a very creative process and there is no one right answer.
@April So glad you are on the fermentation wagon! Condiments are an easy way to get some raw enzyme and probiotic rich foods into you with a cooked meal like a grassfed burger. Much easier for the kids too if they aren’t big on the sauerkraut, etc as a fermented side dish.
@Jennifer .. yes organic ACV will work but raw will give the best results.
This looks SO ridiculously easy!
I’ll be trying this. Always happy to add another probiotic food to our diet…….thanks.
I never thought about making my own mustard. I most definitely need to try this!
Yay!!!we make all the fermented bevs and condiments too and love!!although I cant get my 5&6 year old girls to use the ketchup. They LOVE the organic storebought and I.cant seem to tweaj it to where theyll use it. But they eat everything else so no complaints from this mama. 😉
My kids won’t eat it either…..I think it is the fish sauce that turns my gang off….I wish that you didn’t need to use it. Maybe if we added a different starter like caldwell’s???
I don’t use the fish sauce. Is there a reason why you “need” it. I just omit it. I don’t mind it in there, I just don’t trust any of the brands at my Asian market.
I didn’t use the fish sauce in my first and only ever fermented ketchup, although I had to scale down because I got a bunch of homegrown tomatoes and made my own tomatoe paste, but a large skillet and small only gave me 2C of tomatoe paste. Although I used the small end of the maple syrup 1/4 c it was too sweet for me but it was great otherwise. Oh and I substituted some coconut alternative for a soy sauce. Cant wait to make this mustard.
Perfect timing! I just told my hubby I was cleaning out the door of our fridge this week and making you ketchup and mayo and now MUSTARD!!! Yeah! No more icky condiments in our fridge! Switching to natural and learning all this is great but so hard to see others still eating it. I am watching 2 boys today and had to make them pbj on white bread, chicken rings (um….) and mac n cheese… my kid had steak, pinapple and homemade sprouted crackers… and he didn’t argue!
Way to go Jackie! Be sure to taste the mustard as you are mixing it up for the first time to be sure you like the flavor of it. I like my mustard kind of strong so play with it so you get it just right for your tastebuds.