413 Pickled cucumbers I (Acar Ketimun)

To make your own relish or pickled vegetables is great to do, easy and healthy. This pickled cucumber recipe is real summer food. I’ve already made Pickled cucumbers II (# 414). This recipe is made with shallots, not with ordinary onions ;-).

I double the ingredients because people come over for dinner. But the original is enough for 2-3 people as a side dish. This recipe is ready in 40 minutes.

Ingredients

1 large cucumber
1 dl of water (less than half a cup)
6 tablespoons of vinegar

Herbs

10 shallots (do not use large onions)
3 chopped garlic cloves
10 lomboks (chili pepper)
5 puffed kemiries (candle nuts)
1 tablespoon of sugar
2 tsp of turmeric or curcumin powder
salt

Peel the cucumber, halve it lengthwise, remove the seeds and cut each half into pieces of +/- 4 cm. Remove the seeds from the chilies as well and cut them lengthwise into thin strips. Peel the shallots. Rub garlic, kemiries, sugar, turmeric and salt in to a paste. Bring water to the boil with the vinegar; add the herb paste and let simmer for fifteen minutes on low heat. Then add the shallots and the pieces of cucumber. Simmer 2 minutes more and serve the dish. This relish is not long lasting.

So, I double the ingredients (except the chili peppers) because I’m going to make a lot today. Works great with relish, because you can keep it in the fridge for a week.

I use less peppers because my daughter (6 years) also joins. I’ve deseeded the chilies and cut them into strips.

For the puffed kemiries (candle nuts) I use kemiripasta which I buy at my Asian shop. One teaspoon equals two candle nuts. I buy French shallots, which are slightly larger than regular shallots, so I slice them in half.

I get rid of the seeds for your pickled cucumbers use a teaspoon. You ‘unzip’ the seeds easily like this. Then they can be cut into 4 centimeter slices.

I rub garlic, kemirie paste, sugar, turmeric (curcumin) and the salt (one teaspoon per cucumber) in my tjobek together into a paste.

I add this herb paste to my boiling water and vinegar mix and let is simmer for about 15 minutes. The house smells sweet-and-sour now. Enak!

Now the shallots can go in.

And the chili peppers. Beb doesn’t mention anything about the peppers except the cutting and deseeding part. But they have to go in to the pan too. I add the chilies together with the shallots. And let it simmer for about a minute.

Now the cucumbers can go in and they do not need long. They will become even more tender in the serving bowl, while cooling down. I let the dish simmer for another 2 minutes with the lid on. You can immediately serve this dish.

These pickled cucumbers can be eaten warm or cold. It’s healthy and crunchy and a great side dish next to hot food. Selamat makan!