It's that time of year coming up again!!!
Hungarian Kosher Dill Pickles are the quickest, easiest, simplest, tastiest and healthiest home-made pickles you’ve ever had or made. They are naturally fermented, nothing artificial added and made by you. This recipe is a must try!
So, let’s get to my recipe, it's pickling time again.
Ingredients:
1 Large Bottle - 5 Litre
13-15 Unblemished med. sized cucumbers per bottle, better on the thinner side and close to 4-5 inch in length and on the thinner side. No bigger or the pickles when done be soft and mushy on the inside.
3-4 Heaping tbs. iodized Table Salt (Not Kosher Salt it's not right for this recipe)
2 ½ regular sliced Rye Bread (my mother always said it was the best for these cucumbers).
3 Fresh whole dill stalks with heads not the roots. (2 in the bottom of jar and 1 on top of the cucumbers and under the bread)
Enough lukewarm water to completely cover the cucumbers and bread (use the bottle you’re using to measure how much be need plus a cup or two more) My bottle in video is 5 litre
A cheese cloth and a rubber band
A small nail or vegetable brush, that has only been used for vegetable cleaning.
*Add 3 heaping tablespoons of IODIZED table salt to the water you’ve measured out and bought to a boil. Let it cool for at least an hour or so, until it cooled down to lukewarm. (Do not use hot water for this recipe just lukewarm or room temperature and not from the tap.
*Wash the bottles with hot soapy water and then rinse with plain hot running water, until its clear of all the soap. Then sterilize in boiling water for 3 mi. Let it cool.
*Rinse the dills with the heads but remove the roots. Set aside.
*Each cucumber must be scrubbed with a small nail brush, under cold running water, to remove the little black specs and all the sandy dirt.
* After cleaning, take a cucumber and slice one of the ends off, lick to see if it’s bitter. If it is, don't use that cucumber or it will spoil the whole lot. If not bitter, snip off the other end and slice it in the middle lengthwise to about 1 to 1 ½ inch from the bottom. Then slice again to cut the same way on the opposite side, like making a cross, but leaving the pickle bottom in tacked. When you do the cucumber in this manner, it'll stay together and the salted, fermented water has a better chance to work through and around the pickles to ferment the inside well as the outside more easily, to make them taste so much better. Continue until all cucumbers are checked and partially sliced.
*Soak the bread, squeeze out the water, set aside
*Put 2 dill heads in the bottom of jar and stack the cucumbers upright to fill the bottle.
*Add remaining dill then the bread and push them in around the top of the cucumbers
*Pour lukewarm water over all but make sure that the bread on top is also covered with the brine.
*When filled, cover the bottle with a cheese cloth and use a rubber band to keep in place and top it off with a small saucer to keep the bugs out.
*Put the bottle on a tray or in a bigger container outside when the sun has been warm for a while around 10:30 am and take it in as soon as it starts to cool close to the dinner hour. When inside it needs a warm place away free from draft, fan or air conditioner. You'll have to do this for 3-4 days readiness depends on the weather. If it rains or it's not great outside, keep it in warm draft free spot.
*The color change in the cucumbers should start within a day. Two days the water be cloudy from fermentation and this is when you should again have a little taste. If it doesn't taste sour add an extra tablespoon of salt. Don't worry the pickles need the salt and the yeast from the bread to ferment.
*On the 3rd and 4th day if the weather’s been good, you should be seeing the pickles as golden brownish color. That's when it should be in the ready stage, but you could still have another day. To make sure before ending the fermentation process, have another taste. If ready it should be warm from the sun, have a golden brownish color, pleasingly sour and crispy to the bite. If not, leave them an extra day. If it is done, leave them in the bottle overnight, rebottle and clean them up the next day.
*Discard the bread and dills from the top and remove the pickles by swishing them around and placing them into a bowl. Strain the fermented water over them then sterilize the bottle or bottles again, if you want the pickles to last longer than a few weeks. But likely it'll be so delicious, they'll be all gone before you know it!
*Swish the pickles in the liquid again as you take them out of the bowl, just to be sure they're free of dills or bits of bread and place them back into the clean jars. When done, strain the liquid through the colander over the pickles, then cover and refrigerate. Let them get nice and cold to enjoy and enjoy you will. You can have them anytime as a side to many great dishes, so enjoy!
27 авг 2024