My daughter doesn’t really like anything orange so I have never been able to get her to eat raw carrots. Recently I had a bunch of carrots and decided to make a batch of dilly carrots (similar to dill pickles but with carrots). I made them just for me and my husband, but didn’t expect my daughter to eat them. After eating them a few times in front of her, she asked to try one. That first time she only took one bite, but she asked for them again about a week later. Again, just one bite. After a few times of this, she finally ate a whole one and then asked for another. Slowly but surely my daughter now eats carrots this way! I was happy I never pushed them on her. This is a great way to get fermented goodness into your body versus just a plain fresh carrot. In my second batch I added in kohlrabi too because my daughter loves kohlrabi. You can sub in more carrots if that is what you have on hand or be adventurous and get yourself some kohlrabi – it has a delicious crunch!
This recipe is enough to fill a half gallon sized jar about 2 inches from the top. Use as many veggies as can fit – obviously yours will vary based on the size of your veggie load once cut up. You may or may not use all of the brine, but this recipe will give you the right proportions.
Ingredients
- 7-10 medium carrots, cut into sticks (I didn’t peel mine because they were that beautiful purple variety and I wanted to keep their color)
- 4 small kohlrabi, peeled and cut into sticks
- 1 bunch fresh dill
- 12 whole black peppercorns
- 6 whole garlic cloves, peeled (I used my fermented garlic)
- 2 bay leaves
The brine:
- ½ cup sea salt (where to buy salt)
- Up to 1 cup sauerkraut juice (from a previous batch) or liquid whey (where to buy a starter culture) – NOTE: the sauerkraut juice I used was from a batch of purple sauerkraut so that is why my juice is purple in the photo!
- 1 quart filtered (chlorine-free) water
Directions
Combine the ingredients for the brine in a bowl or pitcher and stir to dissolve the salt.
Put the garlic, black peppercorns, and a third of the fresh dill in the bottom of your fermentation jar (where to buy a good fermentation jar). Place one bay leaf on top. Pack in a third of your carrot and kohlrabi sticks. Continue to layer in more dill and more vegetables until you get to about 2 inches from the top of your jar. Pour in the brine and leave to ferment on the counter or in your pantry for about a week or more using your taste buds as your guide to when it is ready. You are looking for a ‘sour’ taste. If it still tastes salty then it isn’t done yet and you can leave it longer.
The longer you leave it to ferment the better the flavor. You might see some white stuff on top – this is called ‘bloom’ and is nothing to worry about. Just scrape it off and place the jar in your fridge and enjoy your dilly sticks! If you see black or pink/red mold on top then toss it! Using a good fermentation jar will mitigate the risk of too much mold forming.
I love your photo. And that is cool that you got kohlrabi to ferment! I tried fermenting it once (out of desperation, because our CSA was sending us loads and we really hate the stuff) but it came out AWFUL. It smelled so bad that I wouldn’t even try it. There was no obvious mold, but it must’ve spoiled at some point. Good to know that it can successfully be fermented, if I’m ever tempted to try again.
I’ll share on Facebook and Pinterest.
My husband and I are trying this today! We really wanted to make dilly carrots, but saw kohlrabi at the farmers market. We decided to get some so that we could try this! Ill let you know how it turns out!
No starter cultures to buy at that link – any pointers as to what to look for? I don’t like sauerkraut, but want to eat fermented veggies – this might be the ticket
Hi Christine – you don’t need a starter culture to make this. Can you buy some plain yogurt and strain it? The liquid whey can be used to make this as well. Or you can just up the salt a bit and just use water.
Does sauerkraut juice go bad?
Maybe after a year…