Caucasian cuisine is famous all over the world for its spicy dishes. And the hallmark of meat dishes is the sauce that is served to them - adjika. There is still a debate between Abkhazians and Georgians over whose national dish it is considered. In fact, the word “adjika” came to our language precisely from Abkhazian. But in Abkhazian the word “akyka” simply means “salt,” and what we call it, the inhabitants of Apsny call it “salt with pepper” - apyrpyl-jika, or ajiktsattsa (literally, salt, ground with other products).
As you can see, if we take the original meaning of the word, it turns out that adjika is salted pasta with spices. But today, all Caucasian cuisine is so mixed up that it is difficult to determine which country and republic originally owned a particular dish.
Recipe for Georgian adjika may include, in addition to pepper and seasonings, also tomatoes. They give this appetizer softness, removing the excessive pungency of hot pepper. But it will not be a violation of the canons if you include apples, carrots or bell peppers in it. Anyway, you will get real Georgian adjika, the recipe of which we will give below. The main thing in it is not strict adherence to the recipe, but inspiration.
Georgian adjika recipe
Two types of this snack are widespread - red and green. In principle, they are suitable for different dishes, although they are interchangeable. So, traditionally, soups are seasoned with green adjika, giving them the necessary spiciness, and red serves as a seasoning for meat dishes. But you can safely season the kharcho with red adjika, and add green to a salad with tomatoes.
Actually, Georgian red adjika, the recipe of which we present here, differs from green only in that red hot pepper is placed in one of them and green in the other. And due to the different juiciness of products, green adjika turns out to be more liquid.
Attention! Before you start cooking adjika, you will need to stock up not only with vegetables, herbs and spices, but also wear rubber gloves. Otherwise, you risk burning your hands, as pepper has strong burning properties.
Products :
- hot pepper (red or green) - 25 pcs. (1 kg);
- garlic - 5 heads;
- salt - 3 tbsp. spoons (with a slide);
- basil - 1 bunch;
- ground pepper;
- cilantro - 1 bunch;
- dill - 1 bunch (despite the fact that parsley is not included in the Georgian adjika recipe, you can add it too);
- coriander seeds - 2 tbsp. spoons.
Cooking :
If the pepper is fresh from the garden, it should be slightly dried, and then pour water for several hours. This is done so that bitterness and pungency appear in it. After which it is cut, and seeds are removed from it.
We clean the garlic, wash my greens and slightly dry, we pluck the leaves from the basil - we need them.
We grind everything in a meat grinder twice. We crush coriander seeds in a mortar with salt and add to the total mass along with ground pepper. Mix well. You can add a little vinegar, but this is an amateur. It is not included in the Georgian adjika recipe, but a slight acidity will not hurt.
Now it remains to decompose the resulting adjika into sterile jars, close them and send them to the cellar or refrigerator. You can eat it immediately, just keep in mind that from aging it becomes sharper.