Fermented Cucumbers, Carrots, and Chili Peppers

Ingredients

• 500 g Fresh cucumbers (Washed and thoroughly dried; keep whole or cut according to the size of the jar.)
• 300 g Fresh carrots (Washed, thoroughly dried, and cut with a knife.)
• 150 g Small fresh chili peppers (Washed and thoroughly dried; small, thin chili peppers can be left whole.)
• 5 g Fresh dill (For the cucumber jar; the author recommends using only a small amount because its flavor becomes very intense in pickles.)
• 5 gousses Garlic (About 5 cloves for the cucumber jar.)
• 2 tsp Coriander seeds (For the cucumber jar.)
• 2 tsp Black peppercorns (For the cucumber jar.)
• 1 L Filtered or mineral water (Use room-temperature water after dissolving the salt in a small amount of hot water. Boiled and cooled water is also suitable.)
• 25 g Non-iodized salt (For 1 L of water; use rock salt or another salt without iodine. For the chili peppers, slightly increase the amount of salt according to taste.)
• Small jar lids (Used as weights to keep the vegetables beneath the brine; sterilize them in boiling water before use.)

Steps

1. 1

   Wash the cucumbers, carrots, and chili peppers thoroughly. Dry them completely. The vegetables should be very fresh and firm, as fermentation softens them; vegetables that are already soft will produce overly mushy pickles.

2. 2

   Cut the vegetables with a knife according to the size of the jars. Small, thin chili peppers can be left whole.

3. 3

   Wash the glass jars and their lids thoroughly. Pour boiling water into the jars and over the lids to disinfect them, then leave them to drain.

4. 4

   Fill one jar with the cucumbers. Add a small amount of fresh dill, followed by the 5 garlic cloves, coriander seeds, and black peppercorns. Do not add too much dill, as its flavor becomes very strong during pickling.

5. 5

   Fill another jar with the carrots. Do not add dill to the carrots.

6. 6

   Fill another jar with the chili peppers. In the author's version, the chili peppers are prepared only with the brine, without garlic or spices; however, you can add aromatics if you wish.

7. 7

   For each liter of brine, take a small amount of the water and heat it. Dissolve 25 to 30 g of non-iodized salt in it, equivalent to about 4 to 5 level tsp of fine salt, then top up with room-temperature filtered or mineral water. Do not use water that is entirely hot, as it could kill both undesirable bacteria and the beneficial bacteria needed for fermentation.

8. 8

   Pour the brine over the cucumber jar until all the vegetables are completely submerged. For the chili peppers, use a slightly saltier brine if preferred.

9. 9

   Prepare the brine for the carrots and chili peppers in the same way, filling each jar until the vegetables are completely covered.

10. 10

    Sterilize small lids or other suitable weights with boiling water. Place one on top of the vegetables in each jar to push them beneath the brine. No piece of vegetable should remain exposed to the air.

11. 11

    Close the jars. Leave them to ferment unopened for 24 hours, then open them the next day to check the progress of the pickling.

Notes

The quantities of vegetables and the exact number of jars are not specified in the video; they are therefore estimated for approximately 1 L of vegetables distributed among several jars. For safe fermentation, use very clean equipment, non-chlorinated water if possible, and always keep the vegetables beneath the brine. The video describes only the first day of fermentation and does not provide the subsequent storage steps.

Nutrition per serving

• side dish
• fermentation
• lacto-fermented
• vegetarian
• gluten-free
• dairy-free
• no-cook
• pickles