Georgian cuisine is so diverse, fragrant and unforgettable that, once you have tried kharcho or khachapuri soup, you will fall in love with it forever. Many dishes have become everyday for people who have never visited Georgia.
The main feature of Georgian cuisine is not the dish itself, but spices and, in particular, sauces, of which there are a huge number. Thanks to them, meat, vegetables, fish or pastries acquire unprecedented shades and open up new horizons of taste for the consumer.
What is Satsivi
This is the name of a special sauce, in the preparation of which the main component is used - nuts, to which spices, sour juices or vinegar are added. It is served with fish, meat, vegetables. It is considered a truly Georgian dish.
The indisputable advantage of this sauce is its versatility. As a rule, satsivi is served to chicken according to the classic recipe, but today you can meet it in a beautiful tandem with turkey, fish, vegetables. And such a dish will be called "Satsivi turkey", "Satsivi vegetables", or, for example, "Satsivi eggplant." In Georgian, Satsivi is a cold appetizer, because the sauce is served only in cold form. And what a sauce without spices ?! The main spice in this dish is saffron, which gives the walnut sauce an unforgettable taste.
Cooking features
As in any other national cuisine, Satsivi sauce can be prepared according to various recipes. After all, every housewife prepares “her” Satsivi sauce, with the addition of her favorite spices. But the main ingredients are still present. In a classic satsivi sauce, walnuts must be mandatory, which are carefully chopped. At the same time, you can grind nuts in a meat grinder or in a blender, as well as in a mortar or even on a stone, as Georgian housewives have done for many centuries.
Spices are used almost unchanged, but you can add some seasoning at your discretion. The classic satsivi recipe uses saffron, garlic, hot pepper, an acidifier, which can be in the form of acid juice of pomegranate or lemon, or wine vinegar can be used. Due to the fact that the recipe contains natural fruits, the sauce acquires not only acidity, but also aroma. Fresh greens also play an important role in Satsivi, which can be added to taste. The most commonly used cilantro, basil and parsley. To make the sauce thick and silky, flour is added to it.
Satsivi sauce: essential ingredients
Since the sauce can be used to prepare various dishes, today you can move away from the rules and cook it with eggplant. In order to make it tasty, we take the classic sauce as an ideal and make on its basis a Georgian eggplant satsivi recipe.
This will require: onions in the amount of eight pieces, walnuts, previously shelled, three or four glasses, wheat flour - two tablespoons, chopped garlic - three teaspoons, coriander and ground pepper - ten grams each, cinnamon and suneli - five grams each, dried clove inflorescences - five pieces, wine vinegar - ten grams, or sour juice - fifteen grams, two grams of hot pepper, five grams of saffron, half a glass of chicken ghee and chicken broth - half a liter.
Sauce making technology
Melt half of the total chicken fat in a pan. Finely chop the onions and fry until golden brown. Set aside. Using the second half of chicken fat, pass the flour to a golden color, then add it to the chilled chicken broth and bring to a boil.
Meanwhile, chop walnuts in a convenient way by adding garlic, pepper, coriander and salt to them. Then the mixture is thoroughly mixed and diluted with broth, in which fried onions are added. Stew the sauce for a quarter of an hour. At the end, add the remaining spices, pour vinegar or sour juice, finely chopped herbs and boil over low heat for five minutes. Now you can serve Georgian eggplant with satsivi sauce.
Eggplant Satsivi
Today, more and more people are switching to a healthy diet and eating mainly plant foods, which is why Satsivi, so beloved by everyone, can be cooked with vegetables. So, for lovers of dietary, tasty and healthy Caucasian dishes, the recipe for making satsivi from eggplant in Georgian.
"Why eggplant?" - a logical question arises. The fact is that this vegetable is rich in useful microelements, and cooking it is much faster and easier than, say, chicken or turkey, in addition, it contains such a dish much less calories, and gives more strength.
To make Georgian eggplant satsivi, you will need:
- eggplant - 1 kg;
- fresh herbs (cilantro, basil, parsley) - to taste;
- hot pepper (fresh) - 1 piece;
- shelled walnuts - 1 cup;
- garlic - 4 cloves;
- onions - 3 pieces;
- vegetable oil - 3 tablespoons;
- pomegranate juice - 0.5 cups.
First of all, nut sauce is prepared. Grind walnuts by adding salt, garlic, fresh herbs, chilli peppers, spices and pomegranate juice. Dilute the mixture with water (1.5 cups) and boil for twenty minutes. You can cook according to the classic recipe, but in this case more time will be spent, and the dish will cease to be dietary due to the use of chicken fat. If this does not scare, then Georgian eggplant satsivi, cooked with a classic sauce, will be tastier.
When the sauce is ready and cools, you can proceed to the main recipe. Peel and chop the onion. Fry in a pan with hot vegetable oil for several minutes. Then nut sauce is added, the whole mixture is brought to a boil and boiled for fifteen minutes.
The eggplant, which is the main ingredient in Georgian eggplant satsivi, is cut in centimeter thick circles, salt is added, and the vegetable stays at room temperature for half an hour to “rest”. Once the time runs out, rinse the chopped eggplant with water and transfer to a sieve to drain the water. Now it remains to fry the slices on each side for five minutes. Put ready vegetables in a slide, sprinkle with herbs and pour over the sauce.
Greens are washed and chopped thoroughly, and then poured into boiling sauce. Just before serving, cold sauce is sprinkled with pomegranate seeds.
Total
Not many people have tasted this divine dish, but if you cook it according to the recipe, it does not matter what it will be, a classic chicken with sauce or Georgian eggplant with satsivi sauce. Reviews that this is an incomparable and tasty dish will accompany the hostess for many more years. Do not be afraid of experiments, you need to cook satsivi with love, adding your own personality to each dish, and only then you can talk about your own recipe for satsivi sauce.