It would seem how you can still improve the recipe for sauerkraut or pickled cabbage, if in Our Country this delicious salad appetizer has been prepared for centuries and no other people can boast of such a reverent attitude towards this vegetable. But it turns out that it is also useful to adopt the experience of other peoples. Namely, the Georgians were the first to come up with the idea of adding beets when salting cabbage. And the result was a dish, equal to which in beauty it is difficult to come up with something. And thanks to the use of traditional Georgian herbs and hot peppers, the taste of cabbage cooked according to this recipe can captivate any lover of spicy snacks for a long time.
The classic recipe for making Georgian pickled cabbage with beets, or Gurian, as it is sometimes called, does not involve the use of vinegar. Fermentation occurs as naturally as possible, but lasts quite a long time, at least 5-7 days. For those who would like to enjoy this delicacy as soon as possible, there is another recipe using vinegar – both of these most popular options are presented in this article.
A classic that has stood the test of time
If we talk about the main components, then in the classic version there are not so many of them.
The main necessary components that you need to find:
- White cabbage – 3 kg;
- Beets – 1,5 kg;
- Leaf celery – 1,5 -2 bunches;
- Garlic – 2 heads;
- Hot pepper – 1-4 pods;
- Water – 2,5 liters;
- Salt – 3 tablespoons.
Additional Ingredients:
- Sugar – 1 tablespoon;
- Allspice – 5-6 peas;
- Bay leaf – 3-4 pieces;
- Cilantro – 1 bunch;
- Coriander – 1-2 teaspoons of seeds;
- Parsley – 1 bunch;
- Basil – 1 bunch.
When choosing cabbage, stop your eyes on small, strong heads of cabbage. If you use large heads, then there is a high chance that they will crumble when you marinate them. And the additional aesthetic component of this recipe is precisely in small dense pieces of cabbage. Beets need to choose ripe, juicy, well giving their color. Garlic can be any, but without visible damage.
Cabbage heads are cut into 6-8 parts so that neat, dense pieces are obtained. Beets are best cut with a vegetable peeler into thin slices. Then it will be possible to feast on the beets on a par with the cabbage itself – they turn out so tasty in the finished dish. Use hot pepper to your liking – if you are not a big fan of spicy dishes, then just take one pod. Pepper cut into strips or thin rings. Garlic should not be crushed too much. After cleaning the cloves from the outer husk, cut each clove into 2-4 parts.
Celery can not be chopped, but only divided into branches.
It is better to prepare the brine for pouring in advance, since according to the recipe it must be used cold. Salt is dissolved in water, heated and then cooled.
From the amount of vegetables specified in the recipe, about 6 liters of the finished dish are obtained. Based on this, prepare an enameled container of a suitable size and start laying chopped vegetables in layers in it. First, pieces of cabbage are placed, they are covered with slices of beets, then they are sprinkled with pieces of garlic and hot peppers, and finally a couple of sprigs of celery are placed. This sequence is repeated as many times as you have enough harvested vegetables. From the very top, there must be a layer of beets.
If the brine is cold, then carefully pour it over the vegetables laid in layers, lightly press them on top so that they are completely immersed in the brine. Then close the pan with a lid and leave in normal room conditions for 3 days. After the allotted time, open the lid and taste the brine. If desired, you can add more salt to the pan on top and stir it a little. On the fifth day, cabbage and other vegetables can already be tasted and the pan with it removed to a cooler place.
But as a rule, pickled cabbage fully gains its taste and aroma after another 2 days. Such a blank can be stored for up to several months in the refrigerator.
Fast Cooking Recipe
Of course, in the cabbage prepared according to the previous recipe, all vitamins and other useful substances found in vegetables and herbs used for pickling are preserved and even multiplied to the maximum. But sometimes there are situations when it is necessary to cook Georgian cabbage with beets quickly, and then the recipe below comes to the rescue.
It is important to keep only the exact proportions of the content of cabbage and beets, 3 kg of beets are taken for 1,5 kg of cabbage. With the rest of the vegetables and herbs, you can afford to experiment, but according to the recipe, their composition should be as follows:
- Garlic – 2 heads;
- Celery – 2 bunches;
- Cilantro, Parsley – 1 bunch each;
- Hot red pepper – 2 pods;
- Carrots – 0,5 kg;
- Sweet pepper – 0,5 kg.
All vegetables are selected and cut in exactly the same way as in the previous version. It is best to grate the carrots on a Korean grater, and chop the greens coarsely.
The main difference will be in the preparation of the marinade. According to the recipe, 2,5 g of salt, 100 g of sugar, half a teaspoon of coriander seeds, a few peas of allspice, as well as black pepper and another 60-3 bay leaves are added to 4 liters of water. Everything is heated to a boil, removed from heat and 2-3 tablespoons of apple or wine vinegar are added to the marinade.
You can cool the marinade a little and pour it over the vegetables and herbs laid in layers. Made in this way, cabbage is aged in a warm room for a day, and then placed in a cool place. In a day, you can already try Georgian cabbage with beets, and in 2-3 days it will be completely ready.
Cabbage prepared according to these recipes must be stored in the marinade, so that it completely covers it, in a cold place. Although, as practice shows, such cabbage is not stale for a long time and even significant quantities of it are eaten very quickly.
