Homemade plum tkemali for the winter

Content

1 Tkemali recipes
2 Conclusion

Georgia has long been famous for its seasonings, which contain a lot of different herbs. Among them are satsivi, satsibeli, tklali, bazhi and tkemali sauces. Georgians use these seasonings with any savory dishes. It should be noted that far from Georgia it will not be possible to prepare real sauces at home. After all, even though the necessary spices and herbs are grown in the Russian expanses, the air is still not the same. This means that the taste of ready-made tkemali sauces will be different.

Today we’ll talk about how to make Georgian tkemali at home. It is prepared at home from tkemali plumswith a refined sour taste. Since it is almost impossible to buy these fruits, you can use sour plums for homemade sauce for the winter. Precisely sour fruits, since sweet varieties will more likely turn out to be jam with pepper.

Tkemali recipes

There are many recipes for making tkemali sauce at home for the winter. Let's consider several options. The first option uses tkemali plums.

Option one

To prepare tkemali for the winter at home according to the recipe, we will need:

tkemali plums – 1 kg;
garlic – 1 medium head;
salt – 1 tablespoon;
granulated sugar – 2 tablespoons;
red hot pepper – a third of a pod;
ground black pepper - on the tip of a knife;
khmeli-suneli – 1 teaspoon;
coriander seeds - half a teaspoon;
saffron - on the tip of a knife;
mint, cilantro, dill - 20 grams each.

Cooking process

And now about how to prepare tkemali sauce at home:

We sort out the plums and wash them thoroughly. Then put the plum in a bowl, fill it with water up to the surface of the fruit and put it on the stove at medium temperature. Cook until the plums soften and the skins burst.

After this, remove the container from the heat and let it cool. Using a slotted spoon, remove the plums and grind through a sieve using a wooden spoon. Plums are pureed to make homemade sauce according to recipes. The seeds and peels remain in the sieve. They need to be folded into cheesecloth and the juice squeezed out. Add it to the puree.

While the plums were boiling, we worked on the greens: cilantro, mint and dill. The tkemali recipe requires the presence of a large amount of green seasonings. Since there is always a lot of sand on the greens, we wash them, changing cold water several times. To dry, place the leaves on a dry cloth, since we do not need water. Chop the dry herbs as finely as possible and pass through a blender. Then add to the plums.

Remove the outer scales and inner films from the garlic. Grind through a garlic press, adding salt little by little.

Clean the hot pepper and remove the seeds. Decide for yourself how much pepper to add to homemade tkemali sauce, because each person has specific taste preferences. Spicy food lovers can add more of this seasoning. But anyway, after adding a third of the pod, try it first.

Advice! If you think that the tkemali made from plums at home for the winter is not quite spicy, add a little more pepper, but do not overdo it, because you are not preparing a pepper seasoning.

Mix the plum puree, as stated in the recipe, with herbs and plums. If you think the mass is too thick, you can add plum broth. Cook the plum sauce over medium heat with constant stirring.

When the plum puree becomes hot, add garlic, salt, pepper and sugar. Don't forget about suneli hops, coriander and saffron. Residents of Georgia cannot imagine winter tkemali made from plums without ombalo seasoning. So, the secret ingredient is called flea or swamp mint. Unfortunately, it grows only in Georgian open spaces.

Comment! We can find a replacement for it by using peppermint or lemon balm. You can use it fresh or dried.

Boil the mixture for another half hour. Then remove the pan and pour the tkemali from the plums into sterilized jars. Pour vegetable oil on top and roll up the lids while the sauce is still hot. Instead of cans, you can use small bottles. Tkemali sauce is stored in a cool place.

Attention! Before serving tkemali, drain the oil.

Red tkemali is also obtained from sloe berries. In this case, the taste of the finished sauce will be tart, and the color will be rich, closer to blue.

Option two

Now let’s talk about how to prepare tkemali sauce at home for the winter from ordinary blue plums. The Hungarian plum variety is best suited for this purpose when preparing tkemali. But unfortunately, when buying fruits in a store, we do not know their variety. Therefore, we purchase plums with a rich blue color.

Spicy homemade seasoning for meat or fish dishes in accordance with recipes is prepared from the following ingredients:

Hungarian plums – 1 kg;
garlic – 3 cloves;
hot pepper – ½ pod;
dried coriander - half a teaspoon;
dried basil – 1 teaspoon;
salt – 1 tablespoon;
granulated sugar - 1.5 tablespoons;
cilantro leaves – 1 bunch;
table vinegar - 1 large spoon.

How to cook - step by step instructions

Attention! The weight of one kilogram is indicated for pitted fruits.

Divide the plums into halves and remove the pits. We should get exactly a kilogram in weight. Pour water (4 tablespoons) and place the fruits in a saucepan. Let the plum stand for a while until the juice appears.
Place the vessel on the stove and cook for no more than a quarter of an hour. During this time the plum will become soft.
Place the hot fruits in a colander to remove excess juice.
Make a puree. It is best to use a blender for this procedure.
Grind the garlic through a crusher and add to the plum puree. Then hot pepper. The main condition for obtaining a delicious tkemali sauce from plums at home is to obtain a tender, homogeneous mass.
It doesn’t take long to prepare tkemali from plums. First, boil the puree from the moment of boiling for 5 minutes, then add salt, sugar, add coriander, basil and boil for at least 10 minutes. Tkemali sauces are made from plums, no matter what recipes you use, cook with constant stirring, otherwise they will burn.
Add vinegar and boil for another five minutes.

Tkemali sauce from plums for the winter, prepared independently, transfer to jars and store in a dark, cool place.

Option three - tkemali made from dried prunes

If it is not possible to buy fresh plums, then tkemali is made from prunes. It's always on sale. Tkemali sauce is obtained no worse than from fresh fruits.

Attention! Only dried (not smoked) prunes will do.

To prepare it, stock up in advance:

pitted prunes - 500 grams;
garlic - 30 grams;
salt - 10 g;
hops-suneli - 1 teaspoon.

Preparation consists of the following steps:

Wash the prunes, add 500 ml of water, and put on fire. As soon as the plums boil, switch to low temperature and cook for no more than 5 minutes.
Let the fruits cool and discard in a colander. Pass a third of the liquid and prunes through a blender, then grind using a sieve to obtain a delicate consistency. If necessary, add a little of the remaining plum broth to the resulting puree.
Now add salt, add spices and cook for 10 minutes. Tkemali prune sauce is ready. Can be placed in jars.

Conclusion

Here's how one of the housewives made tkemali sauce:

Tkemali sauce is a delicious seasoning for meat and fish, although it is also served with other dishes. You yourself noticed that preparing a delicious sauce is not difficult. But we advise you to do any preparations in a great mood. Then everything will work out. Good luck and bon appetit.

Homemade tkemali sauce