These Russian Pickles take me back to childhood. When your garden starts producing cucumbers and you are cravings something salty and briny. Slightly Salted cucumbers made with sparkling water, have the perfect crunch and freshness. Really easy and only takes two days to marinade. These cucumbers do not require any vinegar for the brine, just salt and sparkling water. No canning required!
Russian cucumbers in most cases do not use vinegar. We are big on fermentation, Salt and a few days do the trick. The recipe doesn’t require much spices, but trust me when I tell you they are full of flavor.
You can make this recipe with regular filtered water but try something new and make it with sparkling water. The Sparkling water speeds up the process and cucumbers will be supper crunchy slightly salted in just 3-4 days You can afterwards refrigerate them and enjoy them for few more weeks.
Now that I am a parent, I love to introduce my kids to food that I grew up with. Hopefully this is one of the recipes that gets passed on through generations to come.
HOW TO MAKE QUICK RUSSIAN DILL PICKLES?
Making these Quick Russian Dill Pickles is very easy and does not take much equipment nor supplies. The process only requires to stuff ingredients into a jar, add salt and water. Cover and let them sit on the counter or warm area for two days. After two days transfer them into a refrigerator.
Soak 4lbs of cucumbers in cold water for two hours. After two hours wash the cucumbers and discard all the water. Cut off all the bottoms of cucumbers.
Ingredients you will need:
- 4lbs Cucumbers
- 2 Flowering Dill umbrellas
- 1 fresh dill spring
- 2 Horseradish leafs
- 2 Sour cherry Leafs (optional)
- 3 Garlic cloves
- 1 Bay leaf
- 3 Black peppercorns
- 6 tbsp Sea Salt
- 3 Sparkling water ( 750ml each)
Into a 4 litter size jar, add horseradish leaf, cherry leaf, garlic, peppercorns. dill umbrella and fresh dill. Stuff the jar with cucumbers. In center row add another set of everything you added in the beginning. Finish the jar off with the remainder of the cucumbers. If your cucumbers are too big and you have a hard time fitting into a jar, you can slice them in half. Top the jar with salt and over it pour Sparkling water. Close the jar and set in warm area 2 days then transfer into a refrigerator. You can definitely give it a taste after 2-3 days
ABOUT THE INGREDIENTS AND WHAT ROLL THEY PLAY IN THE BRINE.
Cucumbers – The best type of cucumbers are Kirby. They have a thicker outside skin, great for pickling and small enough to fit any size jar.
Flowering Dill Umbrellas – This type of dill often sold in stalks in large grocery stores, They Are used for all kinds of pickling. You will have a lot of leftover, you can always dry them and store in dry area for the next time you want to pickle something.
Horseradish and Cherry Leaves – This is a very important ingredient, we grow it in our garden. This keeps your fermented pickles crispier. If you don’t have these, you can substitute them with oak tree leaves, black currant leaves or any leaves with tannins.
Sparkling Water– Sparkling water kick starts the fermentation process faster. It also preserves the cucumbers better from any mold forming on the top.
Garlic, Bay leaves, Black pepper – These ingredients are used for flavor.
Brine- There is no need to boil water since we are using mineral water from a jar that has been sealed. Salt and water can be added directly to the jar.
QUICK RUSSIAN DILL PICKLES
Equipment
- 4 litter jar
Ingredients
- 4 lbs Kirby Cucumbers Small pickling cucumbers with thicker skin
- 2 Horseradish Leaves
- 2 Cherry Tree Leaves can substitute with black currant or oak tree leaves
- 2 Flowering Dill Umbrellas
- 1 Spring of Dill
- 4 Garlic Cloves
- 2-4 Black Peppercorns
- 1 Bay Leave
- 6 Tbsp Sea Salt
- 3 750 ml Sparkling Water jars
Instructions
- Soak cucumbers in cold water for two hours. This gives the cumbers a good rinse, any dirt on the cucumbers will settle down to bottom of the bowl.
- Trim the bottoms of each cucumber, this will help cucumbers absorb flavor faster.
- Using a clean gallon size jar, add half of the leaves, garlic and peppercorn. Add flowing dill and fresh spring dill.
- stuff the jar with cucumbers, halfway through add the remained of the leaves and dill.
- top the cucumber with sea salt and pour over sparkling water until all the cucumbers are fully coated.
- Close the jar and set on the counter in warm area to ferment for 2 days. Depending on the temperature of your home.
- After two days store the cucumbers in the fridge. The cucumbers can be ready In 3-4 days. For Best taste after a week.
Where to Purchase a Gallon size jar.