Finnish pickled dill cucumbers

Finnish pickled dill cucumbers / Kurkku tilli etikka

Cucumbers are very popular in Finland as fresh, or as pickled accompanied with any meal. It is a tasty sweet-and-sour cucumber pickled, which is simple to do at home and could be used in everyday meals to give extra flavor to the food.

Ingredients

1 large cucumber

1 cup of water

2 tbsp sugar

½ tsp salt

2 tbsp vinegar

2 tbsp chopped fresh dill

Pinch of pepper (optional)

Instructions

1. Wash the cucumber, no need to peel it if the skin is thin, but for a pleasant final aspect, you could try to peel the cucumbers like stripes.

2. Cut the cucumber into thin slices, and transfer them into a bowl.

3. In a separate bowl, mix the water, salt, sugar, and vinegar; stir well to dissolve sugar first.

4. Combine the cucumber slices, dill, and pepper (if using) with the liquid which you prepared.

5. Transfer the mixture into a glass jar, let it in the fridge for several hours before serving.

6. You could keep it in the refrigerator for almost a week.

Serve with any dishes, sandwiches, or in salads. In Finland, people would usually eat them with rye bread, meat, or fish dishes. However, it can be accompanied by meals in many different ways, such as nachos, or tortillas, casseroles, falafels, etc.

Tips

*Some people would prefer to heat the water to almost to boil, to dissolve the sugar, after that add the salt, and vinegar, for then pouring it hot on top of the cucumber slices, and mix with dill. The result would give pickled cucumbers with a different texture.

*If you don’t like a sweet pickle, you could use less sugar, or cut it totally from the recipe.

*If you use small-size cucumbers, remove the skin totally because it is thick and bitter.