How to cook pickled eggplant: the best recipes for winter preparations

For lovers of eggplant, pickled "blue" is a real find. Prepared with seasonal vegetables, you will enjoy a tasty and healthy snack until summer. We just warn you right away - prepare this dish in large volumes, because it is eaten very quickly.

We have prepared for you a selection of simple and original cooking recipes. Everyone can find their own option to pamper their loved ones in winter and surprise guests.

Selection and preparation of eggplants for starter culture

Choosing the right fruit for your dish is the cornerstone. Concerning eggplant, then small, young fruits of late varieties, harvested in August-September, are suitable for fermentation. Look for specimens of the correct shape, with a smooth, shiny skin, uniform light or dark purple color.

Make sure they are free of mold, rot, and other damage.

Training

Prepare all the ingredients before starting the sourdough. From each fruit, cut off the stalk just below the top and rinse the vegetables thoroughly.

Most eggplant varieties are bitter. To remove the bitterness, place the fruits in salted boiling water and boil for 5 minutes over low heat. The pulp after such processing is tender and tasty.

Sauerkraut utensils

It is believed that the snack works best in enamel, wood and earthenware dishes. If you don't have such utensils, glass jars will work too.... Whatever you choose - thoroughly wash the dishes along with the lid with soda and pour over boiling water.

The best recipes for pickled eggplant for the winter

Here are the best cooking recipes pickled vegetables for the winter... In each case, the taste of the appetizer is unique - eggplant, like a sponge, absorbs the taste and aroma of the products with which they are cooked.

Classic recipe

This recipe uses a minimum of ingredients and spices. Vegetables are obtained with the most natural taste characteristic of them.

Ingredients:

• eggplant - 2 kg;
• garlic - 2-3 heads;
• bay leaf - 2-3 pcs.;
• ground black pepper - to taste;
• salt for the marinade - 30 g per 1 liter of water.

Ingredients:

1. Boil the whole eggplant and drain off excess water.
2. Make a cut in each vegetable and fill it with black pepper and garlic.
3. Prepare the marinade: dissolve salt in water, add allspice, bay leaf and bring to a boil. Leave to cool.
4. When the marinade has cooled, pour over the vegetables. Cover and place in a cool, dark place or refrigerator. The appetizer will be ready in a week.

Important! The shelf life of cold-cooked fermented billets is six months. But if you put it in clean jars, sterilize it and screw it up with iron lids, then it will not deteriorate until the next harvest.

Before serving, such eggplants can be stuffed with fresh vegetables or cooked minced meat, or served with cut rings as a side dish to meat dishes and in addition to potatoes.

Korean style pickled eggplant

The next spicy Korean appetizer recipe is for spicy lovers.

Ingredients:

• eggplant - 2-2.5 kg;
• bell pepper - 0.8 g;
• chili pepper - 1 pc.;
• carrots - 0.3 g;
• onions - 200 g;
• garlic - 4 cloves;
• parsley greens - 1 bunch;
• salt to taste;
• brine salt - 20 g;
• sugar - 100 g;
• coriander - 1 tbsp l .;
• ground black pepper - 1 tsp;
• seasoning for Korean carrots - 1 tsp;
• water - 200 ml;
• vinegar 9% - 50 ml;
• vegetable oil - 50 ml.

Preparation:

1. Cut the eggplants into large cubes or cubes. Boil in boiling salted water for 2-3 minutes. Discard vegetables in a colander to drain excess liquid.
2. Grate carrots for Korean carrots.
3. Cut the onion into half rings, pepper into strips, chop the parsley, pass the garlic through a press.
4. Combine all vegetables except eggplant, add spices and mix well.
5. Put eggplant cubes on the bottom of the enamel container, then part of the vegetable mixture. Then again the first and again vegetables - alternate layers until you run out of ingredients.
6. Prepare the brine. Combine water, vinegar, oil, sugar and salt. Stir, put on low heat and bring to a boil.
7. Pour the boiling brine over the snack.
8. Cover with a plate, put the load on top and leave to infuse at room temperature for a day.
9. Put the snack in the refrigerator and leave to ferment for another day.

Store the workpiece in the refrigerator. Or roll up in sterile jars, sterilize and tighten with iron lids. Then the snack will not go bad in a dark place and at room temperature.

Recipe with carrots, garlic and herbs

A fairly simple and quick recipe for making pickled vegetables with carrots and herbs.

Ingredients:

• eggplant - 3 kg;
• carrots - 3 kg;
• garlic - 4 heads;
• parsley - 2 bunches;
• water - 200 ml;
• salt - 80-100 g.

Preparation:

1. Blanch the whole eggplant in boiling water for a few minutes. Allow excess moisture to drain and leave to cool.
2. Cut them in half.
3. Grate the carrots on a coarse grater. Chop the garlic and chop the herbs. Combine ingredients, salt and stir.
4. Spoon the resulting vegetable mixture over the eggplant. Tie them with the filling with thread, connecting the halves.
5. Divide the tied fruits into clean jars. Top with the remaining vegetable mixture.
6. Prepare the brine: Dissolve the salt in boiled cold water.
7. Pour the marinade over the snack.
8. Place the eggplant jars in a cool place. After 3 days, the sauerkraut will be ready.

Advice! Serving, cut the stuffed eggplants into small pieces, sprinkle with finely chopped onions and sprinkle with vegetable oil.

Sourdough "Georgian style"

An appetizer prepared "in Georgian" is the most spicy option of all we have proposed. If you like the recipe, but want to make the dish less hot, then cook it without red pepper.

Ingredients:

• eggplant - 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. In pre-washed eggplants, make cuts with "pockets" and hold them for 5 minutes in boiling water.
2. Throw the vegetables into a colander, set the oppression on top (a can of water) and wait for the water to drain.
3. Meanwhile, grate the peeled carrots with a Korean slicing grater. Chop well washed and dried greens. Pass the garlic through a press. Combine carrots with herbs and garlic, salt, pepper and stir. At this stage, the degree of pungency of the future snack is laid.
4. Place the vegetable mixture in the eggplant pockets.
5. Place the stuffed vegetables tightly in a wide enamel pot or bowl.
6. Boil water. Add salt, sugar and vinegar to it. Stir well and pour over the eggplant with the resulting marinade. Install oppression on top.
7. Send the fermentation to the refrigerator. After a week, the snack will be ready.

Interesting. Georgians believe that their spicy eggplant is the best hangover cure.

Recipe with celery "Odessa style"

Speaking of appetizers, we could not fail to mention the famous Odessa recipe. It is uncomplicated and will appeal to most purple vegetable lovers.No vinegar is used in the preparation of this dish, the pungency and sourness is achieved naturally - by fermentation of lactic acid bacteria.

Ingredients:

• eggplant - 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. Chop the eggplant in several places with a fork. Place in a large saucepan of salted water and over heat. Cook for 25-30 minutes. Check the readiness with a fork: the skin is pierced, which means you can turn it off and pull it out.
2. Discard vegetables in a colander to drain excess liquid. Then put them in a container in one layer and place the load on top. Leave it 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 skillet. Add the onion and sauté until translucent.
5. Add the 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 longitudinal halves, but not completely. Fill them with filling and tie them up with celery sticks (you can use regular threads 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 so that it completely covers them. Cover with a plate and place the weight on top. Leave to ferment at room temperature for three days.

After three days, the snack can be served at the table.

Attention! The Odessa-style snack is stored in the refrigerator for no more than two weeks.

Pickled eggplant with cabbage

Another recipe for a savory sauerkraut. This time with cabbage.

Ingredients:

• eggplant - 1.6 kg;
• carrots - 0.3 kg;
• white cabbage - 0.5 kg;
• Bulgarian pepper - 0.3 kg;
• garlic - 3 cloves;
• water - 0.5 liters;
• salt - 50 g;
• ground pepper - 10 g.

Preparation:

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

Time-tested snack

Ingredients:

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

Preparation:

1. Place the eggplant 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 simmer for 5-7 minutes to soften. Then remove the vegetables with a slotted spoon and let the excess liquid drain off by throwing them in a colander.
2. Slice the eggplant lengthwise, but not completely. Pour garlic, passed through a press, and black pepper into the cut.
3. Prepare the marinade: 30 g of salt per liter of water, 2 leaves of "lavrushka" and allspice.
4. Place vegetables tightly in 1-liter jars, fill with brine to the top and sterilize for twenty minutes.
5. Tighten the blanks with lids and store 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, following which you will definitely get a quality product:

1. Before cooking, prick the fruits with a fork, then they will not crack in the process and will not lose their integrity.
2. Make sure that the eggplant is not overcooked. Otherwise, in the process of fermentation, they will turn into a mushy mass.
3. To get rid of bitterness and excess moisture, place boiled eggplants under a press.
4. Fold the fruit loosely so that the brine can fill any empty space. Otherwise, air may enter and the product will start to deteriorate.
5. Serve a ready-made snack with herbs and vegetable oil. So it will acquire an appetizing appearance, additional freshness and aroma.

Reviews

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

Alyona: «Pickled eggplants are most delicious 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 kept in the refrigerator for about two weeks, maybe longer, but they become very fermented. "

Diana: “If eggplants are covered with roasted oil, they will be stored in the refrigerator until spring or even summer. In oil, they will never grow moldy. I do this every year. "

Daniel: “I always make pickled eggplants during the high season. I boil them in salted water until tender. I put 6 hours under the press. Then I lay them out in 5-6 pieces. in plastic containers and put in the freezer. You can pamper yourself with vegetables all winter without worrying that they will disappear. The most important thing is not to overcook the eggplants. "

Read also:

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

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

The subtleties of caring for the "Black Opal" eggplant variety and its benefits.

Conclusion

Having tried pickled eggplants at least once, you cannot deny yourself them. Store products are inferior in taste and quality to homemade products. Therefore, arm yourself with our recipes and remember that 50% of the success of making a healthy snack is the selection of high-quality and suitable for fermentation.