Tkemali is a traditional Georgian sauce that has a sweet and sour taste and spicy pungency. It is ideal for meat dishes. Usually they prepare such a sauce from sour plums. However, there are other recipes of tkemali, where gooseberries, thorns, apples, currants and other products are taken as a basis. However, the classic version is made of plums.
Cooking secrets
Before you begin to consider recipes of tkemali, it is worth giving a few secrets of its preparation. Observing them, you can create an excellent sauce for meat dishes. By the way, any housewife can cook tkemali at home. After all, this does not require special skills and specific equipment. It is enough to follow the recipe and adhere to some rules. So, the secrets of cooking tkemali:
- Oil and vinegar are not added to this sauce. The workpiece is stored for a long time due to heat treatment, as well as spices, which are part of its composition and are particularly sharp. Even at room temperature the product will not deteriorate. The most important thing is properly prepared banks. They must be thoroughly washed, sterilized and hermetically sealed.
- It is best to cook tkemali from plums, preferably acidic varieties. Some professionals recommend using slightly ripened fruits for this.
- To prevent plums from burning during heat treatment, stir them regularly. To do this, it is recommended to use a wooden spatula. As for metal appliances, they should not be used. Although the exception is stainless steel products.
- For cooking sauce, use only enameled containers or stainless steel. Aluminum pans can ruin the product. In addition, this metal in contact with acids releases substances harmful to human health.
- When studying a tkemali recipe, pay special attention to seasonings. They allow you to give the sauce a unique taste and aroma. To make tkemali original, they add marsh mint, which is often replaced by peppermint. Only a true connoisseur of Georgian cuisine can notice the difference.
- Plums for the preparation of such a sauce is to grind. For this, according to the classic tkemali recipe, they are boiled, rubbed through a regular sieve. Thanks to this, the sauce acquires a finer and more delicate structure. If this is not important, then grind the components using a blender or skip everything through a meat grinder. This will greatly simplify and, of course, speed up the process.
- When calculating the number of components, it is necessary to take into account that in order to obtain a thick product, it is boiled almost 4 times.
Following the recommendations, you can prepare a delicious and piquant sauce. When you familiarize yourself with the rules and secrets of cooking, you can go to the tkemali recipes.
Sauce Recipe
Consider the classic tkemali recipe. This will require:
- 3 kg acid-free plum-drained seeds;
- 2 heads of garlic;
- 200 g of cilantro (fresh);
- ½ cup sugar;
- 4 tbsp. l ordinary salt;
- 20 g of spices (hops-suneli);
- 10 g of marsh or peppermint;
- some hot peppers.
Cooking steps
So, how to cook tkemali? To begin with, it is worth preparing the main component - plums. Peel them, cover them with sugar (about 3 tbsp.) And place in a cool place for a while. Plums should stand and drain the juice. Place them on the stove and turn on the heat. If there is little juice, add a little water (preferably boiled). Bring the contents to a boil and boil for a while (5-10 minutes). At the end of the plum, grind through a regular sieve.
Place the mashed plums on the stove and turn on the heat. Boil the mass until its volume decreases 3-4 times. When this happens, add chopped garlic, grated pepper, remaining sugar, chopped greens, salt and sun hop hops to the sauce. Cook the mass for another 10-15 minutes.
Put the prepared tkemali sauce in prepared jars (washed and sterilized). Close the containers with lids previously boiled. When the cans have cooled, transfer the workpiece to a cooler place, such as a pantry.
Simplified version
Many cook tkemali from cherry plum, but it is best to use plums for making the sauce. Consider a simplified recipe:
- 1.5 kg of plum sour varieties;
- 20 g of ordinary salt;
- 50 g of sugar;
- 20 g of spices (hops-suneli);
- about 2 heads of garlic;
- no more than two pods of hot pepper.
Getting down to cooking
To begin, peel the plums, and then grind them with a blender. Add sugar and, of course, salt to the resulting mass. Place a plum container on the fire. Boil the mass until its original volume is reduced by 2-3 times.
Peel and chop the garlic together with hot pepper, previously peeled from the seeds, using a blender. Add the mixture as well as dry spices to the plum container . Cook the tkemali sauce for another 6-7 minutes. Remove the finished product from the heat, pour into sterilized jars and close tightly.
Is there any difference?
Is the sauce made according to a simplified recipe different from the classic? It can be stored even at room temperature. The main thing is that the containers are tightly closed. As for the taste, there are differences. Tkemali, prepared according to a simplified recipe, is less salty and more spicy.
Yellow plum sauce
To prepare tkemali according to this recipe you will need:
- 1 kg of peeled yellow plums;
- from 20 to 40 g of sugar;
- 30 g of salt;
- head of garlic;
- 1 hot pepper;
- 50 g of cilantro (fresh);
- 50 g of fresh dill;
- 10 g of ground coriander.
The amount of sugar depends on how sweet the plum is. If necessary, the amount of this component can be increased.
So, let's begin…
Tkemali for the winter according to this recipe is prepared quickly and simply. To begin, peel the plums, and then chop them. To do this, you can use a meat grinder or blender. The latter option is preferable, since it is recommended to avoid contact of products with metal.
Peel the garlic and then crush it. Hot peppers also prepare. It needs to be cleaned from seeds and cut. Finely chop the greens. Add sugar and salt to the puree of yellow plums . Boil the mass until it decreases in volume by 2 times. Cool and add coriander, garlic, pepper and herbs. Bring the sauce to a boil and cook for several minutes.
Pour the finished weave into sterilized jars and seal it tightly. You can store the blank in any conditions: in the pantry, cellar, refrigerator. The sauce is not capricious and perfectly tolerates room temperature.
Tomato and plum harvesting
To prepare red tkemali, it is necessary to prepare the following products:
- approximately 1 kg drain;
- 1.5 kg of red tomatoes;
- 750 g of sweet pepper;
- 500 g of onions;
- 500 g of apples, preferably acidic varieties;
- 1 hot pepper;
- salt, fresh herbs, sugar.
Cooking method
To begin, pour tomatoes with boiling water. This will remove the skin from them. Grind the pulp of tomatoes with a blender. Plums are placed in a pan, fill with water, cook for no more than 5 minutes, then remove them from the heat and rub through a regular sieve.
Peel and chop the apples with a grater. Do the same with onions. To grind it, you can use a blender. Prepare the other ingredients in the same way: hot and sweet peppers.
In a container, mix all the components and place it on a fire. Cook the sauce until the desired consistency is obtained. Place the finished tkemali from plums and tomatoes in sterilized containers and close hermetically. Of course, the taste of such a workpiece is significantly different from that prepared according to the classic recipe.
Is it possible not to cook?
There is a recipe for plum tkemali where the ingredients do not go through heat treatment. Let's consider it in more detail. To prepare the sauce you will need:
- about 1.2 kg of plums already peeled;
- 2 to 4 pods of hot pepper;
- head of garlic;
- no more than 50 g of basil;
- 50 g of cilantro;
- approximately 25 g peppermint;
- 20 g of ordinary salt without additives;
- 20 g of white sugar.
Cooking process
To make such a sauce, grind the plums, peeled garlic, and seedless peppers using a blender. Grind greens in the same way. Combine all components and mix. Add salt and sugar to the resulting mass. To mix everything well, use a blender or mixer.
Sterilize jars and lids. Put the finished sauce in a container and close it tightly. Keep such a workpiece in a cool room. At room temperature, the sauce will deteriorate and is not worthy until the end of winter.
It is worth noting that this method of preparation allows you to save the maximum amount of all nutrients in the finished fabric.
Pomegranate Juice Recipe
To make an extraordinary sauce, prepare:
- 2 kg drain;
- 60 to 80 g of sugar;
- salt to taste;
- coriander;
- hops-suneli;
- 1 head of garlic;
- 100 ml of natural pomegranate juice.
Grind the plums by first removing the seeds from them. In the resulting puree, add salt, dry spices and sugar. Put the mixture on the fire, bring to a boil and cook until the sauce becomes thicker.
Peel the garlic, pass it through a press and add it to the webs. Pour in pomegranate juice, mix everything and cook for 5 minutes. Pour the finished sauce into sterilized glass containers and close tightly. You can store the workpiece at room temperature. This sauce goes well with meat dishes. Yes, and he prepares easily and quickly. Now you know how to cook tkemali.