Braised cucumbers with chili and lemon

Ingredients for 6 servings:

• 1 ½ liters of water
• ½ celeriac, approx. 400 g, in pieces
• ½ chili pepper(s), dried, very hot
• 2 cloves garlic
• 2 m.-large braised cucumber(s)
• 4 tbsp sugar
• ½ lemon(s), juice and zest
• 200 ml coconut milk
• n. B. Salt
• 1 bunch of dill
• Rapeseed oil for frying

Instructions

Working time approx. 35 minutes; Cooking/baking time approx. 40 minutes; Total time approx. 1 hour 15 minutes

vegan summer dish

Boil the water with the chopped half celery root, half chili pepper, and two garlic cloves for about 20 minutes, then puree. This will be our soup base. While the soup base is cooking, deseed the pickled cucumbers (I always find this works best with a teaspoon) and dice them. First, fry half of these cubes in a large pan in hot rapeseed oil for about 7 minutes, stirring thoroughly, and sprinkling with 2 tablespoons of sugar halfway through the cooking time. When the cucumber cubes have taken on some color, add them to the pot with the pureed soup base. Do the same with the other half of the pickled cucumber cubes. Add the zest and juice of half a lemon. Then add the coconut milk. Stir everything together, simmer for about 10-15 minutes, and season with salt. Finally, chop the dill and stir in. I usually serve these braised cucumbers with boiled potatoes, but sometimes also with glass noodles or simply as a soup (or cold on very hot days).