Not everyone likes pickled cucumbers, as they have too rich a taste. The disadvantage is the long waiting period. In this case, you have the opportunity to get a quick and savory snack. A common recipe is lightly salted cucumbers prepared in mineral water. The very next day after putting it in the refrigerator, you can taste the finished dish.
Benefits of pickling cucumbers in mineral water
If you want to grind cucumbers using purified mineral water with gas, you should learn the advantages of this method of quick preservation:
- Cucumber fruits are crispy, elastic, with a rich salty flavor.
- The possibility of a quick and less troublesome cooking method makes pickling an excellent option for a snack.
- There is no need to use boiling water, since the entire process is carried out using cold mineral water.
- The components retain consistency, taste and most of the nutrients, unlike long-term salting.
Preparing Ingredients
To quickly add salt, you will need the following basic ingredients:
- gherkins;
- mineral water with increased gas formation;
- salt, preferably sea salt, with large crystals;
- garlic bulb cloves;
- greens - dill and parsley.
You can add spices, herbs, cherry leaves, currants or other ingredients to taste. Preparation should begin with vegetables. It is better to take small cucumbers. If the fruits are large, then they need to be cut. The ends can be left or removed. Wash the cucumbers and remove thorns.
Garlic should be peeled and cut into slices, each clove. The dill umbrellas must be divided into the tops and stems with herbs, and the parsley must be washed.
Step-by-step cooking instructions
A step-by-step easy recipe for making malosols includes a list of ingredients:
- slightly unripe gherkins of the same size - 1 kilogram;
- umbrella dill - 5 pieces;
- garlic cloves - 6 pieces;
- horseradish root - 1 piece;
- laurel leaves - 3 pieces;
- large salt crystals - 1.5 tablespoons;
- sugar - 1 small spoon;
- carbonated mineral water.
Salting is carried out according to the following algorithm:
- Preparation of components - wash the gherkins, cut off the ends; Peel the garlic, rinse the dill.
- Place herbs and chopped horseradish root on the bottom of the prepared dish.
- Place cucumber fruits on top of the dill in a thick layer, pressing them down slightly.
- Sprinkle everything with chopped garlic, dill and chopped horseradish.
- Place a second layer of cucumbers and cover it with the remaining elements.
- Prepare salt filling - pour salt and fill with carbonated mineral water, add bay leaf and granulated sugar, mix.
- Add the brine to the bowl with the cucumbers, cover and put in a cool place for 12 hours or 24 hours.
The resulting pickled cucumbers will pleasantly surprise you with their rich taste and aroma, and mineral water will add crunchiness to them.
What can you add to cucumbers?
If you like to experiment, you can diversify the standard recipe. You can add to the main ingredients:
- leaves of horseradish, cherry, currant or oak;
- green apple with a sour taste - cut one small piece into thin slices;
- Hungarian plum – chop several pitted fruits into four parts each;
- zucchini - cut into semicircles of medium thickness.
Let's look at recipes for each additional ingredient.
Leaves of oak, currant, horseradish
To prepare delicious lightly salted cucumbers, you can add oak, horseradish or currant leaves. This will give the dish an unusual, bright taste.
Recipe for malosol with the addition of currant leaves:
- Rinse small cucumbers of approximately the same length and leave in cold, clean water for several hours.
- Trim the ends of the fruits, divide the dill umbrellas into several parts and wash them together with the currant leaves, peel the garlic.
- Place some of the greens and a couple of cloves of garlic into the prepared saucepan, add a few grinds of black pepper.
- Immerse half of the cucumbers.
- Add the remaining herbs, garlic and seasonings.
- Add the second part of the cucumber fruits and mix everything.
- Preparing the brine - pour salt into mineral water until it dissolves, pour in the contents of the pan.
- Cover with a plate and refrigerate.
Already in the morning you will receive crispy, elastic cucumbers with a pleasant taste and aroma.
Hard sour apple
Those who love new sensations are recommended to pickle cucumbers with a hard green apple. To do this you will need standard ingredients and two small fruits.
Recipe:
- for cooking, take dishes made of glass, ceramics or wood, rinse thoroughly;
- Wash and cut one apple into slices, finely grate the second to release the juice;
- Place fruit slices, dill umbrellas, chopped garlic, peppercorns and horseradish or cherry leaves (optional) on the bottom of the container;
- Place gherkins on top of herbs and seasonings, cover everything with grated apples;
- prepare the liquid for pickling - mix mineral water with gas and salt;
- Pour the contents of the container, cover with a lid and put in the refrigerator.
Lightly salted cucumbers according to this recipe will pleasantly surprise you with a delicate sour-sweet flavor.
Plum Hungarian
Pickling vegetables with plums is an original recipe that not everyone will like:
- Wash cucumbers of equal sizes, remove seeds from the fruit and cut each fruit into four parts;
- Clean the jar using soda, rinse well;
- put half of the plums, cherry leaves, dill umbrellas and chopped garlic cloves on the bottom;
- add cucumbers and the rest of the ingredients on top;
- Fill the contents with a mineral water saline solution, cover the jar with gauze, leave in the room for a day and a half, then put it in the refrigerator for several days.
Using Hungarian plums will give the finished dish a sweetish taste. The recipe is suitable for true connoisseurs of unusual combinations.
Zucchini
For salting you will need:
- fresh gherkins;
- medium sized zucchini;
- highly carbonated mineral water;
- coarse salt;
- spoon of granulated sugar;
- cherry and currant leaves;
- stems and umbrellas of dill;
- a pair of garlic cloves;
- allspice peas;
- a slice of lemon (to taste).
Recipe:
- Wash the gherkins, leave in cool water for several hours, trim the ends by 2-3 centimeters.
- Rinse the zucchini and cut into circles about 1.5 centimeters thick.
- Wash the dishes and scald with boiling water.
- Place leaves, dill and garlic on the bottom.
- Place vegetables tightly on top, add peppercorns and add a slice of lemon.
- Mix mineral water with salt and sugar and pour the mixture over the prepared ingredients.
- Cover with a plate or lid and put in a cool place.
Lightly salted cucumbers and zucchini can be stored for several months.
Benefit
Short-term salting allows you to preserve up to 90% of the nutrients in vegetables. These elements include fiber, calcium, potassium, sodium, iron, iodine, vitamins C, A, and group B.
Lightly salted cucumbers can also be eaten on a diet. There are only 12 kilocalories per 100 grams of product.
If you cannot consume a lot of salt for health reasons, for example, if you have hypertension, then quick preparation will be an excellent alternative to long-term pickles. Lightly salted cucumbers are allowed in almost unlimited quantities during pregnancy. They will help cope with nausea and toxicosis.
