For any hostess, especially a beginner, cooking adjika is a kind of skill test. After all, adjika, due to its sharpness, is considered a sauce for the strong half of humanity. And if the men in your family will like your preparation, then you need to save the recipe, and then experiment with it indefinitely, ensuring that the taste of adjika becomes universal and everyone would like it without exception.
Although adjika is considered an original Caucasian seasoning, this article will focus on a dish with unusual ingredients. Indeed, in Our Country it is customary to call adjika any spicy seasoning made from chopped vegetables and herbs. And adjika from beets for the winter can decorate both your holiday table and serve as an indispensable seasoning for the everyday menu.
Caucasian recipe
Paying tribute to traditions, try cooking beetroot adjika first according to a traditional Caucasian recipe, which is a bit like a beetroot salad often used on holiday tables.
For it you will need:
- Medium-sized beets – 2 pieces;
- Garlic – 2 cloves;
- Walnuts – 150 grams;
- cilantro – 50 grams;
- Hot pepper – 1 pod;
- Ground black pepper – 5 g;
- Cumin (Zira) – 5 g;
- Balsamic vinegar – 50 ml;
- Salt rock – 60 grams.
The beets are washed, peeled with a vegetable cutter and grated. The cilantro is washed and finely chopped. Garlic is peeled and crushed. Hot pepper is freed from ponytails and seeds and finely chopped.
Walnuts are pricked and crushed.
To begin with, the beets must be stewed in a pan with the addition of a spoonful of water and vegetable oil, as well as salt, cumin and black pepper for 25 minutes.
Stir well, cool and scroll everything through a meat grinder or grind with a blender.
All grated components are reheated, brought to a boil and heated for another 10 minutes. After that, balsamic vinegar is added to the almost ready adjika, everything is brought to a boil again and, still hot, is laid out in sterilized jars. After rolling, adjika should be placed in a cool and dark place.
recipe
Since this recipe was invented in Our Country, its traditional use is as a dressing for borscht. However, since beetroot adjika turns out to be incredibly tasty and beautiful, it is quite suitable for a festive table.
What do you need?
- Beets – 2 kg;
- Tomatoes – 2 kg;
- Bulgarian sweet pepper – 0,5 kg;
- Garlic – 1 head;
- Carrots – 0,5 kg;
- Hot pepper – 2 pods;
- Herbs to your taste – 100 grams;
- Salt – 60 grams;
- Vinegar – 3 tbsp. spoons;
- Refined vegetable oil – 4 tablespoons;
- Granulated sugar – 60 grams;
- Curry – 1 teaspoon.
First, vegetables and herbs are washed and cleaned of all excess. Then they are cut into such pieces that it is convenient to pass them through a meat grinder. At the next stage, it is the process of grinding all the components with the help of a meat grinder.
First, oil is poured into a thick-walled pan, brought to a superheated state, when a barely noticeable smoke begins to rise from it. Chopped beets are fried first in a saucepan for about 30 minutes. Then tomatoes and carrots are put into the pan and all together they boil for another 20 minutes.
At the next stage, sweet pepper is added, and the entire vegetable mass is heated for 10 minutes. Finally, hot peppers, garlic and herbs are added to adjika. Everything is warmed up for another 15 minutes. At the very end, salt, sugar, spices are put in the pan and the required amount of vinegar is poured. After the adjika boils again, it can be laid out in sterile jars and rolled up.
Adjika with beets prepared according to this recipe can even be stored in an ordinary room, but preferably without light, for example, in a kitchen cabinet.
Adjika with apples
This adjika, despite its rather rich composition, is prepared extremely simply, so it is definitely worth a try. All the main ingredients are taken in the same composition and quantity as for the previous recipe. But instead of vinegar, here you will use about one kilogram of sour apples. From spices, 1 teaspoon of coriander is added to the same amount of vegetables, and more sugar is taken – 150 grams.
All prepared vegetables are twisted through a meat grinder, laid out in a saucepan, the vegetable mass with apples is brought to a boil and simmered over low heat for about one hour with occasional stirring. At the end of cooking-stewing, oil, salt, sugar and spices are added. Delicious and very healthy seasoning – the appetizer is ready.
Be sure to try to cook beetroot adjika according to one of the above recipes, and as a result, not only your family, but also guests at the festive table will be pleasantly surprised.