Interesting recipes with photos for pickling can be found in various sources: books, websites, magazines. Bulgarian pickled zucchini for the winter will appeal to those who love unusual snacks and do not want to spend a lot of time preparing them. They taste sweet and sour, they can be eaten with any side dish, or you can make pizza and pies from them.
You can pickle any variety, young or ripe, with or without peel. All recipes differ in certain features, but the cooking technique is the same. To make zucchini in jars tasty, you need to study it.
Snack ingredients
Pickled zucchini is prepared from fresh vegetables, salt, vinegar, sugar, garlic and herbs.
Quantity of products per three liter jar:
- One and a half kilograms of zucchini;
- 3 pieces of garlic;
- One liter of water;
- Salt 1-2 large spoons;
- Sugar 150 grams;
- Regular vinegar 130 grams;
- Bay leaves;
- Currant and raspberry leaves;
- Black peppercorns;
- Dill two or three branches, parsley, any greens;
- A little hot pepper for seasoning.
Wash vegetables and herbs, remove stains, rot, and yellowness. Peel and rinse the garlic. All vegetables can be washed with the addition of baking soda, as this product has disinfectant properties and does not leave an unpleasant odor. Soda is not expensive, and every housewife has it in her kitchen.
If the vegetables are not young, then it is better to peel the skin, because it is already hard. The cooking rules are simple. To ensure that the zucchini turns out tasty and can be stored for as long as possible, you need to study these rules.
Cooking rules
Zucchini, which is prepared for the winter without sterilization, resembles an old Soviet-era snack. There is no need to sterilize it, so it is done very quickly.
After the vegetables are washed in cool water with a sponge and peeled, they will need to be cut. Cut into circles of medium thickness. You need to let them dry a little and then fry them in a frying pan in vegetable oil on all sides. The oil should drain.
This operation is followed by sterilization of the jars. They must be washed well in hot water, then held over steam and scalded with boiling water. Leave to drain on dry material. The lids are also poured with boiling water and dried.
The greens are sorted from dry and yellowed branches, washed and dried. The garlic is peeled and divided into cloves. They need to fill the bottom of the jars.Then arrange the zucchini so that it looks beautiful and original.
You also need to cook the marinade. Boil water, add salt, sugar, dill, hot pepper, raspberry or currant leaves. Cook the brine for 6-7 minutes. Then let it sit for a while and fill the jars to the top.
Screw the lids on and turn them over onto the floor until they cool completely. Then they are placed on the refrigerator shelves. And after three months you can try the finished snack.
Various secrets
Basically, the secret to delicious zucchini lies in the marinade. Canned zucchini has a special taste and aroma, they are crunchy and have a unique sourness.
When adding the marinade to the zucchini, it is better not to mix them too much and do not mash the vegetables. If vinegar is added, then in small quantities, and at the end of cooking. There should be more sugar than salt.
It is necessary to add greens for taste; they always add piquancy and an unforgettable aroma. It could be just dill, or parsley, cilantro, celery, horseradish, lemon balm, basil.
After closing the lids, it is better to cover the jars with a towel or blanket. This way they will be protected from light and sudden cooling. Once the jars have cooled, they are best stored in the refrigerator during the winter. This way they will stay fresh longer and there is no risk of them becoming moldy.
Buy new lids at the store every time to prevent harmful bacteria and fungi from appearing. They must be metal, durable, and screw well.
Cooking pickled zucchini in Bulgarian is an easy way to preserve a rich harvest for the winter, as well as treat yourself to an original snack. Learn the harvesting rules and get started.
