Tkemali sauce - general principles and methods of preparation
Tkemali is a Georgian sauce of tkemali plum, garlic and herbs, which is traditionally served with fish, meat, poultry and various side dishes. Today there are modifications of tkemali sauce in which it is prepared from other acidic fruits, such as gooseberries, red currants, etc., however, a real tkemali sauce can only be made from sour plums. Another feature of the classic tkemali sauce is the use of ombalo (Georgian mint) spices. It was to her that the real tkemali sauce owes its catchy piquant taste. In addition, ombalo has wonderful preservative properties that help the sauce not deteriorate for a long time. Of course, in our conditions it is almost impossible to find this herb, so resourceful housewives replace it with ordinary mint, believing that if the dish is prepared with love and diligence, the result will not be much affected by replacing one of the components.
The principle of cooking tkemali sauce is not complicated: pour the plum with water and boil for about half an hour, then, after wiping them with a sieve with a decoction, the peel with seeds is separated. Then, after boiling the mashed potatoes to the density of sour cream, mix it with mashed garlic, coriander, red pepper, salt, bring to a boil and remove from heat.
Tkemali sauce - product preparation
The main component of the tkemali sauce is the plum of the same name. Tkemali plum is cultivated mainly in Georgia and Bulgaria. However, many fans of tkemali sauce have successfully replaced this plum variety with cherry plum. Before preparing the sauce, plums should be carefully sorted and rinsed.
The remaining components of the sauce - garlic, herbs, peppers should be chopped with a knife or in a blender.
Tkemali sauce - the best recipes
Recipe 1: Tkemali sauce with dill
According to this recipe, tkemali sauce is prepared in Western Georgia. It has a sour taste and moderate spiciness, so it is an ideal seasoning for meat dishes.
Ingredients:
3 kg of plum;
2 glasses of water;
250 gr dill (inflorescences and stems with umbrellas);
300 gr fresh cilantro;
250 gr fresh mint;
4 cloves of garlic;
2 dried red hot peppers;
1 tbsp. l sugar (optional);
to taste the salt.
Cooking method:
1. After washing and sorting out the plum, fill it with water and put on fire. When the berry breaks, we grind the resulting mass through a colander and free it from the peel and seeds.
2. Tie inflorescences and stalks of dill with thread in bunches and put them in the resulting plum mass along with hot pepper and salt. Cook puree for about half an hour over low heat. Important: from our seasonings only hot pepper should be dry, we must use the rest of the greens fresh.
3. While the sauce is being cooked, grind fresh herbs with garlic in a blender. Then, fetching dill from the sauce, add chopped herbs and cook for about 15 minutes.
4. Pour the prepared sauce into the prepared sterilized jars with a small capacity, then, adding a little sunflower oil, twist with sterile lids.
Recipe 2: Tkemali Sauce
This recipe will appeal to lovers of spicy dishes. The sauce turns out to be very fragrant, so it can make any, even the simplest, dish unique.
Ingredients:
1 kg of tkemali (cherry plum);
50 gr. water;
garlic head;
40 gr dill (in dry form);
3 tsp coriander;
2 tsp peppermint (dry);
ground red pepper.
Cooking method:
1. Cutting the plums in half, put them in an enameled pan, fill them with water and boil over low heat to separate the peel and seeds from which the resulting plum mass should be freed.
2. Drain the resulting clear juice, grind the mass in a puree (or wipe it through a sieve) and boil it so that it becomes similar in density to sour cream. At the same time, we constantly stir the sauce and gradually add the juice that was drained earlier. Then, grinding everything into powder, add them to the hot mass, salt to taste and warm the sauce for about 5 minutes. Ready sauce we use in cold. If desired, you can prepare it for the future, pouring it into hot sterilized jars and corking with sterile lids.
Examples of dishes with Tkemali sauce
Recipe 1: Lamb with Tkemali Sauce
It is impossible to describe the aroma and taste of this dish - you can only try it! You can garnish such meat with fresh vegetables, lettuce and greens.
Ingredients:
1.5 kg of lamb;
2 tomatoes;
50 gr. oil spread;
1 onion;
25 ml vinegar;
20 gr. dried barberry;
20 gr. parsley greens;
a bunch of green onions;
50 gr. tkemali sauce;
1 lemon
to taste salt with pepper.
Cooking method:
1. Well-washed meat is cut into large pieces, sprinkled with vinegar, salt, pepper and leave to marinate in a cold place for several hours. Then we grease the grate with vegetable oil, put meat on it and fry it over the coals (you can use an electric grill for this).
2. When serving meat, we use onions, tomato slices, lemon slices, chopped green onions and parsley branches as a side dish. Separately serve tkemali sauce and dried barberry (ground).
Recipe 2: Stew with Vegetables in Tkemali Sauce
Very tasty and fragrant dish, which is prepared from lamb, vegetables and tkemali sauce. Due to its excellent taste and appearance, it can become a real decoration of your dining table.
Ingredients:
500 gr. beef pulp;
200 gr. tkemali sauce;
4 cloves of garlic;
300 gr meat broth;
3 bell peppers;
4 carrots;
2 tsp hops-suneli;
drain. frying oil;
to taste the salt.
Cooking method:
1. Grind the garlic, fry it in butter, add the same carrots, cut into circles about 5 mm thick, and fry them together.
2. Having dried the meat with a paper towel and quickly fried in a separate pan, put it to carrots and garlic. Dilute half the sauce with half the meat broth, pour this mixture into the pan and, salt, simmer under a closed lid for about an hour and a half. If there is little liquid left during the quenching process, add the broth.
3. After one and a half hours, cover the meat with bell pepper, cut along, and fill with the remaining tkemali sauce diluted with broth. After adding the hops-suneli, again simmer on low heat for about half an hour, so that the meat becomes very soft.
Tkemali sauce - useful tips from experienced chefs
When preparing tkemali sauce, remember that fresh plum tkemali is boiled about 4 times. That is, to get 250 gr. in time we need 1 kg of plum.
