How to prepare West indian gherkin pickle recipe
Utensils required
Quart jar, lid & rim, sterilized
Ingredients-
Horseradish root (keeps the pickles crisp)
2 T sea salt
1 cup water (filtered or boiled), maybe more
Fresh dill, chopped or whole
1 T mustard seed, optional
West Indian Gherkins (enough to fill a quart jar, or mix with pickling
cucumbers)
Cut horseradish to height of quart jar, 1" or less below the
top. Peel root and slice into 1/4-1/2" segments. Set aside.
Mix about 1/4 cup of the water with sea salt in filtered or boiled
(then cooled) water. Stir until dissolved. (It may not completely
dissolve, so be certain to get all of the residue into the jar).
Place about 1 T chopped dill in bottom of jar. Add a row of gherkins
(or mix them with pickling cucumbers) until jar is full, working horseradish
and dill in among them as you go. (If using mustard seed, sprinkle
amounts in as jar is filled). Save a 2-1/2"-3" cucumber
to use at the end. After the jar has been filled with the water, place
it sideways across the top of the contents. This will keep the other
cucumbers submerged in brine until done.
Pour the salted water into jar. Add remaining water to within 1"
of top of jar (may need more than 1 cup total).
Wipe clean the top of the jar. Screw on rim and lid until tight. Carefully
invert jar 2-3 times until salted water becomes thoroughly mixed.
If contents shift so that they pickles are above the water, open jar
and repack as necessary making sure all contents are beneath the water.
Wipe jar/lid/rim dry and reseal.
Set jar in dark place where temperature is between 70-75 degrees.
Leave for 3 days then check for taste. Sometimes I've left mine another
day because I like a sharp taste.
That's all there is to it! When I gave this recipe to my mother, she
said, "what about vinegar?" None is used!
This recipe is a lacto-fermented way of preserving foods, and was
used by previous generations before food industrialization occurred.
Try West indian gherkin recipes
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