Lightly Salted Cucumbers: What are their benefits and why add oak and currant leaves to the jar?
Lightly salted and pickled cucumbers are a delicious addition to sandwiches and lunches. They are made from fresh cucumbers through anaerobic fermentation, left in salty brine with spices. Lightly salted cucumbers contain many vitamins and few calories. This is a true marvel of Central European, including Belarusian, cuisine. What other nutritional properties do they have? And how do they differ from pickled ones? Read on in the article.
Cucumbers are salted in brine with a set of spices. Typically, these include dill, horseradish leaves, oak, currant, and cherry leaves, as well as garlic. Photo: Nasha Niva
Lightly salted cucumbers do not differ from pickled or salted cucumbers in their preparation method, but they are eaten after a short period. Thanks to this, they contain more vitamins and less salt.
The brine is made in the same way: a similar set of spices and the same amount of salt are used. These two varieties differ only in the duration of the fermentation period and taste. Lightly salted cucumbers are ready for consumption in one, two, or three days. Salted cucumbers require waiting from one to ten days.
Lightly salted cucumbers are a source of natural probiotics, or, as they are also called, "good bacteria." They positively affect digestion and food absorption, as well as the body's immune system, helping to combat various types of viral infections, diarrhea, and food allergies.
To prepare traditional lightly salted cucumbers, you will need:
- 1.5 kg of fresh field cucumbers, small, with unblemished skin,
- a small head or half of a large head of fresh garlic,
- a few sprigs of dill,
- a little horseradish root and/or a few leaves,
- 2 tablespoons of salt,
- 2 liters of water.
A 5-liter container easily accommodates 1.5 kg of cucumbers. You can use a large jar, pot, or ceramic barrel.
Place horseradish and spices between the cucumbers.
Boil water, dissolve salt in it, cool it, and pour over the cucumbers.
The cucumbers should be pressed down with a weight so that they do not stick out of the brine.
The minimum salting time is one or two days. For the first day, the cucumbers are kept at room temperature, allowing air to reach the brine (the container should be uncovered or covered with gauze).
There is a way to prepare lightly salted cucumbers faster – these are the so-called "dry-brined" cucumbers. You need to put them in a plastic bag, add spices, sprinkle with salt, shake the bag well so that all ingredients are properly mixed, and then place them in the refrigerator for about eight hours. Done!
What else can be added for flavor
In addition to water, salt, and dill, which appear in almost every recipe, when making lightly salted cucumbers, you can experiment with other additives that enhance and change the taste.
Bay leaf, pepper, mustard, oak and currant leaves, grape and cherry leaves, thyme, basil, sugar, honey, walnuts — it all depends on what you like.
Here are two more recipes with flavor variations.
Lightly salted cucumbers with blackcurrant leaves
- 1 liter of hot water
- 2 tablespoons of salt
- 2 kg of fresh cucumbers
- 1 bunch of fresh dill
- 5 cloves of garlic
- 4 blackcurrant leaves
Wash the cucumbers thoroughly. Place a bunch of dill at the bottom of a clay pot or jar. Place the cucumbers in the container. Peel the garlic cloves and also put them in the jar. Wash the currant leaves and place them with the cucumbers. Boil water and add salt. Stir until the salt dissolves and immediately pour over the cucumbers. Cover and leave until the next day.
Lightly salted cucumbers with oak or cherry leaves
Ingredients for a one-liter jar:
- about 500 g of cucumbers,
- 1 liter of boiled water,
- 1 tablespoon of salt with a small mound (preferably rock salt, non-iodized),
- 1 horseradish leaf,
- 2-3 large cloves of garlic,
- 3-4 sprigs of dill (the more, the better the aroma),
- a piece of horseradish root — about 3-4 cm,
- cherry or oak leaves.
The recipe author advises to use 1 tablespoon of salt with a small mound per liter of water, and about 500 ml of brine for a one-liter jar.
How to prepare:
- Boil 1 liter of water and add 1 tablespoon of salt with a mound. Stir thoroughly and cool (the water can be slightly warm when you pour it over the cucumbers).
- Thoroughly wash the cucumbers, dill, and horseradish. Cut the horseradish into several smaller pieces (e.g., four). Peel the garlic and separate it into cloves. Gently crush each garlic clove by pressing it against the countertop with the blunt side of a knife.
- Cucumbers can be packed into a large jar, ceramic dish, or several jars. For immediate pickling – as is the case with lightly salted cucumbers – ceramic containers are best.
- At the very bottom of the jar, place a horseradish leaf and a piece of horseradish, some dill, and a garlic clove.
- Pack the cucumbers quite tightly into the jar, preferably vertically. Stuff the remaining garlic, horseradish, and dill between the cucumbers.
- Pour the pre-prepared slightly warm salted water over the cucumbers; they should be completely covered. If you are making cucumbers in a jar, pack them quite tightly and cover the jar with a lid or gauze (there must be air access, so do not close it tightly).
- The cucumbers should be kept away from the sun (otherwise they will rot instead of pickling). In approximately 2-3 days, they will be ready for consumption — the water will become cloudy. Each subsequent day will make the lightly salted cucumbers saltier.
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