How to cook pickled eggplants: the best winter recipes

Sourdough “Georgian style”

The appetizer prepared “Georgian style” is the spiciest option of all that we have offered. If you like the recipe, but want to make the dish less hot, then cook it without red pepper.

Ingredients:

• eggplants – 1.8 kg;
• carrots – 350 g;
• garlic – 5-6 cloves;
• cilantro – 1 bunch;
• celery – 1 bunch;
• dill – 1/2 bunch;
• water – 2 l;
• sugar – 20 g;
• salt – 70-80 g;
• ground red pepper – 5-7 g;
• vinegar 9% – 20 ml.

Preparation:

1. Make cuts into “pockets” in the pre-washed eggplants and keep them in boiling water for 5 minutes.
2. Throw the vegetables into a colander, place a pressure (a jar of water) on top and wait until the water drains.
3. Meanwhile, grate the peeled carrots using a Korean grater. Chop well washed and dried greens. Pass the garlic through a press. Combine carrots with herbs and garlic, add salt, pepper and mix. At this stage, the degree of spiciness of the future snack is determined.
4. Place the vegetable mixture into the eggplant pockets.
5. Place the stuffed vegetables tightly together in a wide enamel pan or basin.
6. Boil the water. Add salt, sugar and vinegar to it. Stir thoroughly and pour the resulting marinade over the eggplants. Place a bend on top.
7. Place it in the refrigerator to ferment. In a week the snack will be ready.

Interesting. Georgians believe that their spicy eggplants are the best cure for a hangover.

Recipe with celery “Odessa style”

Speaking of snacks, we couldn’t help but mention the famous Odessa recipe. It's easy and will appeal to most purple vegetable lovers. Vinegar is not used in the preparation of this dish; pungency and sourness are achieved naturally - through fermentation of lactic acid bacteria.

Ingredients:

• eggplants – 1.5 kg;
• large carrots – 2-3 pcs.;
• garlic – 1 head;
• onions – 2 pcs.;
• celery greens - a bunch;
• parsley - a bunch;
• salt - to taste;
• vegetable oil - for frying;
• water – 1 l;
• salt – 50 g (for brine).

Preparation:

1. Prick the eggplants in several places with a fork. Place in a large saucepan of salted water and place on heat. Cook for 25-30 minutes. Check readiness with a fork: the skin is pierced, which means you can turn it off and pull it out.
2. Drain the vegetables in a colander to drain excess liquid. Then place them in a container in one layer and place a weight on top. Leave for at least 4 hours, ideally overnight.
3. Grate the carrots on a coarse grater. Chop the garlic, finely chop the onion and chop the parsley.
4. Heat some vegetable oil in a frying pan. Add the onion and fry it until transparent.
5. Add carrots to the onion and fry for 2-3 minutes, stirring occasionally.
6. Add garlic and parsley, salt and mix well. Leave the finished filling to cool.
7. Cut the eggplants into two lengthwise halves, but not all the way through.Fill them with filling and tie with celery sprigs (you can use regular thread instead).
8. Place the eggplants tightly in an enamel container.
9. Prepare the brine: dissolve the salt in 1 liter of boiling water and cool to room temperature.
10. Pour the brine over the stuffed vegetables until it completely covers them. Cover with a plate and place a weight on top. Leave to ferment at room temperature for three days.

After three days, the appetizer can be served.

Attention! The Odessa-style appetizer can be stored in the refrigerator for no more than two weeks.

Pickled eggplants with cabbage

Another recipe for a savory fermented snack. This time - with cabbage.

Ingredients:

• eggplants – 1.6 kg;
• carrots – 0.3 kg;
• white cabbage – 0.5 kg;
• bell pepper – 0.3 kg;
• garlic – 3 cloves;
• water – 0.5 liters;
• salt – 50 g;
• ground pepper – 10 g.

Preparation:

1. Prick the eggplant in several places with a fork. Place in boiling, salted water and boil for 5 minutes. Cool.
2. Grate the carrots on a coarse grater, chop the cabbage finely. Cut the pepper into small strips, pass the garlic through a press. Combine all ingredients, pepper, salt, mix well and leave to brew for half an hour.
3. Stuff the cut eggplants with the vegetable mixture.
4. Prepare the brine: dissolve salt in water, bring to a boil and cool.
5. Place the stuffed appetizer in a container, fill it with brine, press it down with a weight and leave it to ferment for three days in a warm place.
6. Add sunflower oil to the prepared snack and store it in the refrigerator.

Time-tested snack

Ingredients:

• eggplants – 1.5-2 kg;
• allspice peas – 4 pcs.;
• bay leaf – 2 pcs.;
• salt for brine – 200 g;
• salt for marinade – 30 g per 1 liter.

Preparation:

1. Prick the eggplants in several places with a fork. Prepare the brine: dissolve 200 g of salt in 1 liter of water and boil. Place the fruits in it and boil for 5-7 minutes to soften. Then remove the vegetables with a slotted spoon and let the excess liquid drain, throwing them into a colander.
2. Slice the eggplants lengthwise, but not all the way through. Pour garlic, passed through a press, and black pepper into the cut.
3. Prepare the marinade: 30 g of salt per 1 liter of water, 2 bay leaves and allspice.
4. Place the vegetables tightly in liter jars, fill them to the top with brine and sterilize them for twenty minutes.
5. Screw the lids on the blanks and store them in a cool, dark place. Pickled eggplants for the winter will be ready in two weeks.

Tips and tricks for fermenting eggplant

There are several recommendations that you can follow to ensure you get a quality product:

1. Before cooking, prick the fruits with a fork, then they will not crack during the process and will not lose their integrity.
2. Be careful not to overcook the eggplants. Otherwise, during the fermentation process, they will turn out to be a porridge-like mass.
3. To get rid of bitterness and excess moisture, place boiled eggplants under a press.
4. Place the fruits loosely together so that the brine can fill all the empty space. Otherwise, air may get in and the product will begin to deteriorate.
5. Serve the finished appetizer with herbs and vegetable oil. This way it will acquire an appetizing appearance, additional freshness and aroma.

Reviews

If you still have doubts about whether it’s worth preparing fermented stock for the winter, then the reviews will easily dispel them.

Alyona: «Pickled eggplants taste best on the fourth day. Then they should be stored in the refrigerator, always under pressure so that the liquid completely covers them. Cover the vessel with a lid.Eggplants are stored in the refrigerator for about two weeks, maybe longer, but they become very pickled.”

Diana: “If you cover eggplants with calcined oil, they will be stored in the refrigerator until spring or even summer. They will never mold in oil. I do this every year."

Daniel: “At the height of the season, I always make pickled eggplants. I boil them in salted water until tender. I put them under the press for about 6 hours. Then I lay them out in 5-6 pieces. in plastic containers and place in the freezer. You can treat yourself to vegetables all winter without worrying about them going to waste. The most important thing is not to overcook the eggplants.”

Read also:

What are white eggplants and how do they differ from regular ones?

How to cook dried eggplants at home is tasty and simple.

The subtleties of caring for the “Black Opal” eggplant variety and its advantages.

Conclusion

Once you try pickled eggplants at least once, you won’t be able to deny yourself them. Store-bought products are inferior in taste and quality to homemade products. Therefore, arm yourself with our recipes and remember that 50% of the success of preparing a healthy snack is the choice of high-quality fruits suitable for pickling.