Dill cucumbers

When I used to dish up my Pukka Pittas at night markets in the South West I used to pickle cucumbers in vinegar all of the time to add a sharp, sour zing to the top of the salads, merguez sausages & halloumi. Recently I have been hankering after a really good kebab & so I thought I would make some pickled cucumbers to accompany it - when they're ready in a few weeks time.

With my experiments at the moment being focused on more traditional pickling methods I thought I would try making a salty brine for the cucumbers. The same herbs & spices remain but rather than keeping the cucumbers whole (as most other recipes state) I chopped mine into big chunks, mainly as I am intrigued as to whether this will speed up the fermentation. Who knows whether that will be the case but I will keep you posted on my Instagram & Facebook pages. 

The brine is, after a day, already tasting amazing & the dill is really shining through - am very much looking forward to eating these straight from the jar but also with burgers, fish, on fancy homemade kebab...the list could go on.

INGREDIENTS
3 cucumbers (I used regular ones but you could use baby cucumbers)
2 cloves of garlic
2 jalapeno chillis
45g seasalt mixed with 1 litre water
A generous shaking of fennel seeds & yellow mustard seeds
A big bunch of dill 

WHAT YOU'LL NEED
1 large kilner jar (approx 2.5-3 litres)
A little greaseproof paper

WHAT DO I DO? 

• Make sure your jar is clean & ready to go
• Prep all the ingredients - wash & chop the cucumbers into large chunks/peel & slice the garlic/chop the chillis into quarters
  
• Start by adding half of the spices, dill, garlic & chilli to the jar
• Place half of the cucumber chunks on top then add the remaining of the ingredients
• Pour over the brine & seal with a round of greaseproof paper
• Put the lid on & make sure that the brine is covering the cucumbers
• Give it a little shake to make sure there are no air bubbles trapped
• Be patient for 1-4 weeks, check the flavour of the brine regularly & once it has reached the right 'souredness' for you pop in the fridge & scoff!