It is rare to meet a person who does not love these juicy vegetables with a unique taste and aroma, which, fortunately, are able to ripen in the climatic conditions of most regions of Russia, even in open ground. In recent years, an unimaginable number of varieties of different colors have been developed: in addition to traditional red tomatoes, there are orange, yellow, pink, and even white and almost black. There are also green tomatoes, which, despite their emerald hue when ripe, are very sweet and tasty.
But most gardeners are faced with green tomatoes of a completely different kind, unripe fruits of ordinary red or pink tomatoes. It may seem to an inexperienced summer resident that they are no good, however, there are many recipes for pickling and fermenting green tomatoes, which result in dishes of a completely different kind than from ripe red or yellow ones. Some consider them even more delicious in taste.
One of the interesting appetizers prepared for the winter from green tomatoes is Danube salad. As the name implies, the salad originates from Hungary and is, to some extent, a variation of the famous Hungarian lecho.
Danube salad – pay tribute to traditions
In its most traditional form, Danube salad is made from red tomatoes.But its modification has existed for a long time and successfully competes with it - green tomato salad. First, the most common version of its preparation will be considered here.
But without the following components it is impossible to imagine the Danube salad.
- Green tomatoes – 3 kg;
- Carrots – 1 kg;
- Sweet bell pepper – 1 kg;
- Onions – 1 kg;
- Granulated sugar - 300 gr;
- Salt – 60 g;
- Vegetable oil – 300 g;
- Vinegar 9% – 150 g;
- Ground black pepper – 2 teaspoons.
Fans of spicy dishes should definitely add a few hot peppers to the recipe. Well, those who are used to doing without it should be completely satisfied with the sweet and sour taste of the salad.
Tomatoes are cut into pieces of the size that is most familiar and convenient for the housewife. The main thing is to remove the stalk from them, the taste of which cannot be called attractive.
It is most convenient to grate carrots on a coarse grater. Peel both types of peppers from seeds and tails and cut into rings or straws. Cut the onions into halves of rings, and if the onions are small, you can even leave them cut into rings for beauty.
Place all the chopped vegetables into one container, mix thoroughly, add the required amount of salt according to the recipe and set aside for 3-4 hours. During this time, the vegetables should release their juice.
After the allotted time has passed, add vegetable oil, granulated sugar, spices and vinegar to the container with tomatoes and other vegetables. After this, place the container over medium heat, bring to a boil and, reducing the heat, cook for about 30-40 minutes.
The jars are sterilized in advance using any convenient method, and the salad is laid out on them while still hot. You can even store it in a regular pantry.
New salad option
According to this recipe, the vegetable in the Danube salad will be prepared with minimal heat treatment, and, therefore, will retain all vitamins and other useful substances to a greater extent.
Green tomatoes, sweet peppers, cucumbers, carrots, and onions are prepared.
All vegetables for the salad are cut in the same way as in the traditional recipe, placed in one container and mixed. Then 100 g of sugar, 60 g of salt, 220 ml of any vegetable oil and 50 ml of 9% table vinegar are added to them.
In this composition, after thorough mixing, the vegetables are left for half an hour, after which they are placed on a very low heat, on which they are slowly brought to the boiling point. Boiling lasts no more than 5 minutes, and the salad is immediately placed in prepared small sterile jars, sealed hermetically and, turned upside down, left to cool under a blanket for at least 24 hours.
Recipe using sterilization
Many housewives consider sterilization to be something very difficult, while others, on the contrary, are inclined to believe that it helps preserve food more reliably than using vinegar in large quantities.
This recipe for Danube salad with green tomatoes for the winter is practically no different in composition from the first version. Only the proportions of vinegar are slightly different - only 50 ml of 9% vinegar is used. And vegetable oil is used in much smaller quantities.
So, if you cook all the vegetables as usual and put them in a bowl, then you will need to add salt, sugar, vinegar and spices to them and mix well. Then take clean and sterile jars with a volume of about 1 liter and put vegetable salad in them. After this, pour 1 tablespoon of boiled vegetable oil, several bay leaves and black peppercorns into each jar.
Now you can cover the jars with lids and sterilize the salad for 20 minutes in boiling water, then roll it up and cool it, as always, under a blanket.
Before you decide which salad recipe tastes better, it’s best to try all of them. After this, you can rightfully reason and choose something that is most consistent with your ideas about delicious food.
