Sun pickles

Name: Sun pickles
Ingredients: 1.5 kg small cucumbers; 2 liters water; 30 g coarse non-iodized salt; 4-5 garlic cloves; 2 flowering dill sprigs; 1 hot pepper; 1 tablespoon pickling spices; 1 slice whole wheat bread

Pickles - Sun pickles by Anda C. - Recipia

Sun pickles are small cucumbers that turn tangy in the sun in brine with garlic, dill and bread, and stay firm if you take them out at the right time. This is my first time making them this way; in summer I used to think of the ones my grandmother made, and mine sat for four days because it wasn't very warm, so they tasted more sour than after two days. Prep: 20 minutes. Cook: 10 minutes. Rest: about 1 hour and 2-4 days. Total time: about 2 days and 1 hour and 30 minutes to 4 days and 1 hour and 30 minutes. Servings: 6. About 55 kcal and 2 g protein per serving.

Ingredients

1.5 kg small cucumbers
2 liters water
30 g coarse non-iodized salt
4-5 garlic cloves
2 flowering dill sprigs
1 hot pepper
1 tablespoon pickling spices
1 slice whole wheat bread

Preparation

1. Bring 2 liters of water to a boil and let it boil for 10 minutes. Let it cool for about 1 hour, until lukewarm, then dissolve 30 g of coarse non-iodized salt in it. 2. Wash the small cucumbers well and pat them dry. Pack them as tightly as possible into a washed and dried jar of about 3 liters. 3. Tuck the garlic, hot pepper, dill and pickling spices among the cucumbers. Pour in the lukewarm brine, place the slice of bread on top, then cover the jar. 4. Leave the jar on a sunny windowsill for 2-4 days, depending on how warm it is and how tangy you like them. Remove the bread once they're pickled and keep the jar in the fridge.

Notes

Whole wheat bread contains gluten; for a gluten-free version, you can use a slice of gluten-free bread of the same size. I serve them with boiled potatoes, without any complicated side dish. Once I remove the bread, I keep the jar in the fridge, with the cucumbers covered by brine. I choose firm small cucumbers that are about the same thickness, not ones that are already soft at the ends. The thick ones turn sour more slowly than the thin ones, even when they're in the same spot. On the windowsill, direct sun matters, not just the light in the room; in the shade, pickling can take longer. Some can soften if the jar stays warm for too long, so taste them once the brine starts to turn tangy.