Lightly salted eggplants: two recipes for perfect pickling

Autumn is the time of preparations. At this time, vegetables ripen, and you can make assorted dishes to suit every taste. Eggplants go well with many vegetables, which is very convenient. After all, in this way, you can make several blanks at the same time, and not spend much time on it.

Stuffed lightly salted eggplants for the winter

This recipe requires medium-sized, firm, not overripe eggplants. Set the large ones aside for another salting method, which will be slightly lower.

First you need to choose what exactly you will stuff the eggplants with. The most delicious eggplants come from stuffing them. lightly salted cabbage, or carrots. Of course, it should be ready-made lightly salted cabbage or carrots.

We also need salt and long stems of dill.

Cut off the stem of the eggplant and make a deep cut along it, but not all the way through. This should be a “pocket”, which we will then fill with filling.

But first, you need to boil the eggplants.This way, the bitterness will go away from the skin, and the fruits themselves will become softer, which will make stuffing easier.

Place a pan of salted water on the fire, and as soon as it boils, carefully pour the eggplants into the boiling water. You need to cook them for 3-5 minutes, then turn off the heat, cover the pan with a lid and let them cool on their own.

Place the eggplants, pockets side down, on a wire rack to drain.

Prepare a container in which you will salt the eggplants. This could be a barrel, or an ordinary plastic bucket (made from food grade plastic), not jars.

Boiled eggplants are quite soft, so take your time and carefully place a handful of lightly salted carrots or cabbage in each “pocket”. Or you can do both in turn. Tie the eggplants with dill stems if they are falling apart too much and place them in a bucket. The gaps can be filled with the same cabbage or carrots for greater density.

If the cabbage is a little dry, it will not produce juice and the eggplant may spoil. Just in case, dilute the brine: 100 grams of salt per 1 liter of water and pour this brine over the eggplants. Place a wooden circle on top and apply pressure. Check that the brine appears on top. If it is not there, you will have to dilute a little more brine.

Now you can take the eggplants out into the cold and in a week they will be ready.

Quickly salted eggplants

This is a recipe for those who love a spicy snack and don't want to wait a whole week. Besides, do you still have large eggplants, or crooked ones that you didn’t use in the first recipe?

Wash them, trim the stems and cut them into cubes. Don’t make it too small; the cubes should be of such a size that you can prick them with a fork rather than scoop them out with a spoon.

To speed up the process, the eggplants need to be boiled.Pour water into the pan, add salt, and when it boils, pour the chopped eggplants into the boiling water.

Boil the eggplants for 5-7 minutes, after which, place them in a colander and let drain.

Now we need (for 1 kg eggplant):

• 1 head of garlic;
• Fresh dill or parsley;
• Juice of 1 lemon;
• 3 tbsp. l unrefined sunflower oil.

Place the eggplants in a saucepan.

Chop the garlic. You can chop it finely or grate it, whichever is more convenient for you.

Mix eggplants with garlic, herbs, and season with lemon juice and vegetable oil. Mix everything well again, cover the pan with a lid, and put it in the refrigerator for 3-4 hours.

You will be pleasantly surprised how lightly salted eggplants with garlic are tasty and aromatic. This is the dish that you won’t get tired of, even if you eat it every day.

How to cook lightly salted eggplants with garlic, watch the video: