How to quickly and deliciously cook sauerkraut with caraway seeds

To prepare cabbage for the winter, use fresh and healthy heads of cabbage, clean water, seasonings and spices. Caraway is especially popular - a source of B vitamins and ascorbic acid. It is added to marinades and pickles, it gives the dishes a spicy rich aroma and bright taste. Seeds of caraway seeds should be dry and whole, with a clean smell without foreign impurities.

In this article, we will consider how to cook sauerkraut with caraway seeds and find out what recommendations experienced chefs give on this matter.

Choosing cabbage for harvesting

For blanks, they choose snow-white heads of cabbage with delicate green leaves. Vegetables should be firm, free from cracks, stains, scabs and other damage. For blanks, medium-early varieties are chosen - Baroque, Start, Explosion. They are juicy and sweet in taste.

It is recommended to use fresh garden crops or seasonal vegetables from the market or supermarket for starter culture.

Preparation for cooking

The cabbage is examined and washed under running water, and wiped dry. Remove the top layer of leaves, cut the head of cabbage into 4-6 parts, depending on the size. In the future, each part is chopped into small or large slices.

All pieces should be the same size - so the cabbage is evenly saturated with brine and will be crispy.

Choice of containers

They ferment cabbage in glass jars, enameled buckets, wooden barrels. The first option is suitable for preparing a small amount of a snack. It is convenient to store jars at home - in the refrigerator or closet. They must be whole, without chips, otherwise the dish will deteriorate. The jars are sterilized, the lids are scalded with boiling water, wiped with a clean towel. Cabbage is rolled up with metal, polyethylene or nylon lids.

Enamel buckets, basins or pots are suitable for salting for a large family. It is important that there are no stains or cracks on the enamel - bacteria that are dangerous to health accumulate in these places. The dishes are washed and dried.

Sauerkraut is especially tasty in wooden tubs or barrels. Wooden walls impregnate vegetables with woody aroma. For salting, large barrels or small tubs are used, they are washed and placed in fresh air for several days for ventilation. They are suitable for cooking in the country and are conveniently stored in the basement.

How to cook cabbage with cumin

A tasty and juicy preparation for the winter is used as a snack or used as an addition to main dishes: soups, salads, side dishes.

What is required for cooking:

• 1.5 kg of cabbage;
• 15 g cumin;
• 250 g carrots;
• 15 g sugar;
• 15 g of salt.

Cooking technology:

1. Peel the cabbage from the top leaves and set them aside. Rinse the head of cabbage and remove the stump, chop on a medium grater or using a food processor with a special nozzle. Transfer to a deep enamel saucepan.
2. Rinse and peel the carrots, grind them for Korean carrots. Transfer to a saucepan and stir in the cabbage.
3. Cover with salt and sugar, add cumin. Mix thoroughly, rub lightly with your hands so that the vegetables release juice.
4. Tamp it tightly into jars, rinse the remaining whole leaves with boiling water and cover the snack with them. Remove to a dark, warm place for 3 days.
5. Pierce the cabbage with a wooden spatula once a day to release air bubbles.Remove the resulting foam with a wooden spoon.
6. Close the lid and put in the refrigerator. Squeeze lightly, pour over with vegetable oil and serve as a side dish with cutlets, potatoes, hodgepodge.

Recipe variations

Everyone cooks pickled cabbage in different ways: some add cranberries to the recipe, others prefer traditional carrots or greens. Let's explore popular recipes.

Instant Cumin

The dish is used as a healthy vegetable salad - it is seasoned with fresh onions before serving.

What is required for cooking:

• 0.5 head of cabbage;
• 10 g cumin;
• 1 carrot;
• 1 liter of water;
• 20 g salt;
• 30 g sugar;
• 1 bay leaf.

Fermentation process:

1. Rinse cabbage and carrots, chop and mix in a plastic bucket.
2. Prepare the brine: mix water, salt, sugar and caraway seeds, add bay leaves. Boil and cool, pour into a bucket.
3. Cover the cabbage with clean gauze and put in a dark place for 1 day.
4. Store in the refrigerator, after spreading it out in jars.

With the addition of carrots

Carrots saturate the dish with an appetizing yellow-orange color. For harvesting, elastic and juicy roots are chosen.

You will need:

• 1 kg of cabbage;
• 200 g carrots;
• 20 g cumin;
• 50 g of salt;
• sugar to taste.

How to cook:

1. Rinse the cabbage, remove the top leaves and chop. Peel the carrots and grate on a medium grater.
2. Stir vegetables in a bowl, season with salt and caraway seeds, add sugar to taste. Wrinkle with hands and leave for an hour. Wash again and put in a warm place for 4 days.
3. During fermentation, skim off the foam and pierce the cabbage with a wooden spatula. After 4 days, arrange in jars and roll up, store in the refrigerator.

With cranberries

Bright cranberries saturate the snack with vitamin C and give a festive look. This dish will decorate any table.

What is required for cooking:

• 1 kg of cabbage;
• 30 g of cumin;
• 200 g carrots;
• 100 g of cranberries;
• 50 g sugar;
• 2 bay leaves.

How to cook:

1. Rinse all ingredients under cold water. Chop the cabbage, chop the carrots.
2. Stir vegetables, add cumin and sugar.
3. Put a layer of cabbage in a saucepan, add part of the berries and bay leaf. Fill the entire pan with these layers.
4. Arrange oppression for 5 days and leave in the kitchen. Store in a saucepan or arrange in jars and refrigerate.

In its own juice

Simple and quick to prepare, the recipe does not require any culinary skills. What is necessary:

• 1.5 kg of cabbage;
• 1 carrot;
• 20 g cumin;
• 10 black peppercorns;
• salt to taste;
• 2 bay leaves.

How to cook:

1. Rinse the vegetables, chop the cabbage, grate the carrots on a medium grater.
2. Transfer to a bowl and stir, season with salt and caraway seeds, add black pepper and bay leaves.
3. Tamp in a jar and leave warm for three days, regularly piercing with a wooden spatula.
4. Keep refrigerated.

Cabbage recipe in its own juice has several performance variations. Housewives add fresh apples, bell peppers, dill seeds, cranberries to the dish to taste.

"In German"

The original recipe for salting "Po-German" is famous for its simplicity of preparation and juicy result.

Ingredient List:

• 1.5 kg of cabbage;
• 50 g of cumin;
• 400 g carrots;
• 40 g of salt;
• 60 g of juniper berries;
• 2 apples.

How to cook:

1. Peel the head of cabbage from the top leaves and chop on the finest grater. Grind the carrots.
2. Fry the cumin in a dry frying pan - this way the seasoning will give a more pronounced aroma. Mash the seeds with a rolling pin to a powder.
3. Rinse the apples, remove seeds and cores.
4. Put cabbage and carrots in a saucepan, sprinkle with juniper, apple slices, caraway seeds and salt.
5. Remove under oppression for 2 days. Keep refrigerated.

Terms and conditions of storage

To prevent fermented preparations from spoiling, store them in a cool, dark place... A refrigerator, basement or cellar, a niche under the windowsill in the winter season is suitable for this. The shelf life of sauerkraut is no more than a year, in the pantry it decreases to 8 months.

It is easy to recognize a spoiled product by a cloudy brine.To extend the shelf life of an already open jar, add 1 tbsp to the cabbage. l. Sahara. The shelf life in this case is no more than two weeks in the refrigerator.

Tips from experienced housewives

Housewives recommend preparing sauerkraut for future use. To do this, they purchase the necessary ingredients in advance, study recipe and check the expiration date of the products. Cabbage is harmoniously combined with herbs, black pepper, bay leaves - culinary experts advise you to safely add them to the blanks.

To prepare the brine, use pure well or purchased water - the taste and benefits of the dish depend on this. Tap water is not suitable. Coarse salt is taken - the fine salt dissolves quickly and does not soak the dish.

Attention! Some of the cooked cabbage is frozen in the freezer and added to a soup or side dish. Fresh frozen cabbage is not consumed.

Reviews

The whole family will love salted cabbage. It pleases with its taste and crunch, juiciness and sweet and sour aroma.

Marina, Moscow region: «Every year I cook a classic cabbage appetizer with caraway seeds in liter cans. I eat it with boiled potatoes - it turns out very tasty. The dish has a pleasant sweet and sour taste and caraway aroma. I freeze some of it and add it to the cabbage soup. "

Olga, Krasnodar: “I like the combination of carrots and cabbage. I especially love the recipe with cranberries and cumin - the blanks are very beautiful and elegant. Use fresh or frozen cranberries, it turns out equally tasty. It is not a shame to serve such a dish to guests. "

Pavel, Ufa: “I cooked cabbage“ Po-German ”last season. The taste was too sour, although I followed the entire recipe. Our classic recipe is another matter. It is easy to prepare, can be stored for a long time and goes well with any dish.

Conclusion

Cabbage with caraway seeds is a fragrant and healthy sauerkraut snack. The ingredients retain their benefits thanks to the lactic acid that is formed during the fermentation process. The workpieces are placed in a container and removed to a dark place, piercing with a wooden spatula and removing the foam. After the vegetables are transferred to jars and put into the refrigerator. For piquancy, black pepper is added to cabbage, for sourness - cranberries.

To taste, before serving, the dish is poured with vegetable oil or decorated with fresh herbs.