Classic Romanian pickles flavored with banana hot peppers, garlic, and dill. Crunchy and delicious with a spicy kick!
“Putting up Pickles!!” my mom sings, as we are prepping for this canning job.
“What?” I ask.
“That is what they used to call it after you can the pickles”, she says.
I just laugh. There are so many words and phrases that she uses that I have never even heard of!
After years of canning these pickles with her, this is the first time I have heard that. You learn something new everyday!
This is an authentic Romanian pickle recipe that has been handed down for generations!
These pickles have been known to have quite the “kick” to them due to the peppers put in them. Each jar is a bit different too, depending on the hotness of each pepper that is put in.
These are wildly popular in my family, a few select individuals have eaten whole jars by themselves, they are that good!!
How long do I have to wait before eating the Romanian Garlic Dill Pickles?
We always wait around 6-8 weeks before opening our jars of pickles. You should label your jars after pickling. Either with the date that you pickled them or 6-8 weeks out from the day that you pickled them. When storing your pickles while you wait, make sure they are in a cool, dark place such as a basement or pantry. Make sure the area is dry and not too humid or wet.
These pickles also makes great Christmas presents!! Since you have to can them when the cucumbers are ready from the garden, about July or August, you can get some Christmas presents done early. So perfect timing for the holiday season!
What kind of cucumbers are best for pickles?
There are alot of cucumbers to choose from for pickling. Pickling cucumbers, kirby cucumbers, persian cucumbers, and English cucumbers all are good choices for pickling. They all have a non waxy thin skin that is great for pickles.
Does it matter what kind of peppers to put in the Romanian Garlic Dill Pickles?
Banana Hot peppers is what is traditionally used. These are perfect to bring a subtle spicy hot to the pepper. If you choose not to have them spicy stick to the sweet banana peppers, which will be sweeter with little to no heat. We have also used Hungarian Hot peppers in place of the banana hot peppers but these are much hotter, if trying to substitute when using these, only use half the pepper, unless you want it that hot.
Do you really need to use all fresh ingredients?
Yes!!! Please do not ignore using fresh ingredients for these pickles! I am talking about the dill, garlic, and peppers especially. Using fresh brings HUGE flavor to these pickles! I just don’t think the dried, canned, or jarred versions of these have enough flavor.
To slice or not to slice?
Traditionally the cucumbers are put in the jars whole. I have sliced them into spears and then jarred them and they turned out just the same! Slicing them semed to fit more, especially if you have some cucumbers that are large. I suggest that if your cucumbers are small, put them in whole, but if you have some large cucumbers, do a jar or two of the sliced.
So let’s get canning! First let’s go over some basic tools you will definitely need to do this job.
Basic canning tools:
- canning jars
- canning lids
- wide mouth canning funnel
- jar lifter tongs
- canning tongs
- 20 quart canning stock pot
Check out this canning set sold on amazon to see what all these tools look like!
This recipe makes about 12 jars of pickles, if you would like to do more just double the recipe!
Ingredients for Romanian Garlic Dill Pickles
Cucumbers: (4-5 can fit in a jar depending on size) Pickling cucumbers, kirby cucumbers, Persian cucumbers, and English cucumbers are all good choices for pickling. Choose pickles that are not too thick and no longer than 6 inches, these will fit best in the jars.
White Vinegar: Used a part of the brine mix.
Garlic Cloves: Put in the jars for the garlic flavor.
Fresh Dill: Put in the jars for the dill flavor. Choose 4-5 big stalks with lots of leafy parts.
Banana Hot Peppers: Used in the jars to bring the spice! Can choose between Banana Hot peppers, Banana Sweet peppers (if you want a sweet less heat pickle), or Hungarian Hot pepper (for an even spicier pickle!)
Salt: Added for a salt flavor, also helps preserve the pickle. A pickling salt can be used but is not necessary.
Crushed Red Pepper Flakes: Added to the jars for a little spicy kick. Leave this out if you do not want the extra spicy flavor.
Alum: Just a pinch added to each jar helps to preserve the pickles.
How to make Romanian Garlic Dill Pickles
Fill your sink or a big bowl full of cold water and throw a handful of salt in with the cucumbers and let them soak for about 10 min. A handful of salt is about 3 Tablespoons.
Why am I soaking the pickles in cold water beforehand?
The cold salt water bath seems to help give the pickles some crunch when you go to eat them. The salt added gives it an extra salt boost.
Prep all the ingredients that will go in the jars along side the cucumbers.
I like to break apart the garlic cloves from the head, peel them, and section them into groups of four cloves per jar.
Next, wash the banana peppers and cut off the tops, only slice in half longways if it is a really big pepper.
Take the dill and divide into bunches for each jar, making sure they are short enough so nothing sticks out of the jar.
I like to pour the salt and crushed red pepper into little bowls with the measuring spoons so I can just scoop it easily into the jars.
Fill the big canning pot with water about halfway up.
I like to use a nice wide pan to cook the brine and cucumbers in.
Get your tools ready, a funnel and some tongs.
Fill the wide pan with the brine mixture, which is 2 quarts of vinegar and 3 quarts of water per batch. That is all this pan holds so I like to cook them in batches. Bring to a boil and then add the cucumbers.
We had to do about 2 batches of the brine to cook all the cucumbers. Don’t dump the brine mixture because you will need it to fill the jars!
Boil the cucumbers in the brine mixture about 2-3 minutes. You do not want to cook these, just looking to blanch them a bit.
Take out the cucumbers and let them drain and cool a bit before adding to the jars.
The cucumber on the left is not cooked, the cucumber on the right is what you want the cucumber to look like after it is boiled about 2-3 minutes. Just a little paler green in the color
Fill all your jars with 1 banana pepper, 4 cloves of garlic, a small bunch of fresh dill, 1 Tablespoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper, and a pinch of alum.
Next add in your boiled cucumbers, packing everything in really tight. You should be able to fit 4-5 cucumbers depending on their size.
I have sliced them after the boiling process and then put them in the jars, which helps to fit more if that is what you want to do.
After packing all the jars, using the wide mouth funnel fill the jars with the hot brine mixture that you boiled you cucumbers in.
Fill very full until just under the rim part. Also make sure that nothing is sticking out above the water line.
In another pan, bring some water to a boil and let the lid covers and screw part boil for about 2 minutes.
This helps activate the seal part on the lid cover.
Start boiling the water that is in the huge canning pot.
After the lids have boiled, using the tongs, remove them from the water and place them on the jars, and tighten with your hands. Not too tight, just a snug fit.
Once the water in the canning pot starts to boil, add as many jars to the water that the pan can fit. We were able to fit 6 or 7, so we had to do 2 boiling sessions to get all 12 jars done.
Boil the jars for 20 minutes.
Remove the jars, using the jar lifter tongs. Very important tool to have!
We actually could not find the one we had and had to improvise to get these jars out. Let me tell you that it was very difficult and a 2 person job! So make sure you have the jar lifter, so much easier!
Let all the jars rest and cool off after taking them out of the water. You want to wait for them to all make a “Pop” noise, which means they have sealed. You can also see it on the top of the lid, the little indentation that means they have sealed. Try not to move the jars around too much until they have all sealed. After they are sealed and are cooled you can label each jar.
The wait time, or preserve time on these is about 2 months. After that they are good to eat!
We like to label them with the date that they were canned, or if you prefer you can label them with the date they can be opened!
These are good for up to 1 year after they are made.
Romanian Garlic Dill Pickles
Description
Classic Romanian pickles flavored with banana hot peppers, garlic, and dill. Crunchy and delicious with a spicy kick!
Ingredients
Instructions
- Fill your sink or a big bow full of cold water and throw a handful of salt(about 3 Tablespoons) in with the cucumbers and let them soak for about 10 min.
- Prep all the ingredients that will go in the jars along side the cucumbers.
- Break apart the garlic cloves from the head, peel them, and section them into groups of four cloves per jar.
- Next, wash the banana peppers and cut off the tops, only slice in half longways if it is a really big pepper.
- Take the dill and divide into bunches for each jar, making sure they are short enough so nothing sticks out of the jar.
- Fill the big canning pot with water about halfway up.
- In another wide pan add 2 quarts white vinegar and 3 quarts water for the brine, bring to a boil.
- Add the cucumbers to the boiling brine, and boil for 2-3 minutes.
- Take the cucumbers out the brine with tongs and let them drain and cool of a little.
- Fill all your jars with 1 banana pepper, 4 cloves of garlic, a small bunch of fresh dill, 1 Tablespoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper, and a pinch of alum.
- Next add in your boiled cucumbers, packing everything in really tight. You should be able to fit 4-5 cucumbers depending on their size.
- Start to boil the water in the large canning pot.
- After packing all the jars, using the wide mouth funnel fill the jars with the hot brine mixture that you boiled you cucumbers in.
- Fill very full until just under the rim part. Also make sure that nothing is sticking out above the water line.
- In another smaller pan bring some water to a boil, then add the lid covers and lid screw parts.
- Boil the lids about 2 minutes, remove with tongs and screw them on the jars while they are still hot.
- Just tighten them with your hands until they are snug. Do not over tighten them.
- Once the water in the large canning pot is boiling, add your jars to the water using the jar lifter tongs, and boil for 20 minutes.
- After 20 minutes, remove jars with the jar lifter tongs and let the jars rest and cool until you hear a “pop” which means they have all sealed.
- Preserve time is 2 months and then you can eat them!
Notes
- If you prefer, you can slice the pickles any way you want after the boiling process before packing them in the jars.
- Don’t forget to label the jars so you know when you can open them!
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