Polish Pickles in Brine {Ogórki Kiszone}
Continuing the quest of enjoying summer veggies, I’m posting a recipe for Polish pickles in brine: ogórki kiszone [o-goor-kee kee-shoh-neh]. These are quite different from those you buy at the market here in the U.S. They don’t have any vinegar in them, they are very sour, sometimes spicy from the horseradish and garlic, and fragrant from dill.
This is a very simple recipe for a basic ogórek kiszony (kiszony means its pickled with salt only – no vinegar) and it can be adjusted to personal preference. You can add spicy peppers, more dill, more horseradish, more garlic, or just go with this simple composition.
Grandma always made jars upon jars of them, enough to last through the winter. During winter months we would make pickle soup out of them, eat on sandwiches or use for salads.
Pickles made this way and eaten after just a few days are called małosolne [pron: ma-woh-sol-neh]. They have a lot of the freshness of a raw cucumber still, but are starting to pick up some of the flavors from spices of the brine. Oh, are they tasty!! I encourage you to try one after about 3 days of sitting on the counter.
After about a week, they should become more sour, very juicy and translucent and water briny. Don’t be alarmed. The white, cloudy brine is normal.
Polish Pickles in Brine {Ogórki Kiszone}
Ingredients
- Pickling cucumbers
- SPICES PER QUART / LITER JAR:
- One 3 inch / 5 cm stick of horseradish root, peeled
- 1 (or more) twigs of fresh dill
- 3 garlic cloves
- Leaves of horseradish plant, oak, cherry tree, grape leaves, or currant leaves
- 1 bay leaf
- BRINE RATIO:
- 1 qt / 1 l of water
- 1 tbsp / 20 g of sea or rock salt
- ADDITIONALLY:
- Pickling jars and lids
- Large pot for disinfecting and pickling jars
Instructions
Sanitize jars and lids in boiling water. Wash cucum- bers and set aside. Peel horseradish root and cut into long strips (about 1⁄2 x 5 inch / 1 x 8 centimeter). Wash dill and peel garlic.
In a pot, boil water, and when hot add salt - SEE BRINE RATIO* - adjust to desired amount of jars.
Place a layer of dill on the bottom of the jar. Arrange the cucumbers to fit as many as you can to fill the jar. Place garlic, horseradish, and leaves in between the cucumbers. Add more dill on top.
Pour hot salt brine to cover the contents. Place cover on top of the jar, close tightly and leave at room temperature.
Pickles are ready when brine turns murky and cloudy (4-7 days). Lids will bulge out as the brine sours, this is normal.
Store unrefrigerated.
Notes
Best for pickle soup!
*General brine ratio for pickling cucumbers in brine is 1 to 1 (1 tablespoon of salt to 1 quart / 1 liter of water). You may adjust the recipe to yield more servings using this simple rule.
As mentioned before, the recipe for the brine is always the same = 1 heaping tbs of salt to 1 quart of water. You can adjust the amount of water as needed. I didn’t make a super huge batch, just 4 lbs of cucumbers, but if you’re working with a lot, it’s easy to gauge the amount of water/salt with this simple ratio. Be generous with spices, dill and garlic, they give out a lot of flavor.
Happy canning! Let me know how those turn out for you!
Anna
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