For quick use, cook ajapsandali for 25-50 minutes (depending on the use of a saucepan, multicooker or microwave), for preparing ajapsandali for the winter – 40 minutes.
How to cook ajapsandali
Products
Eggplant – half a kilo (4-5 pieces of medium size)
Onions – 3 heads
Potato – 3 medium potatoes
Tomatoes – half a kilo (6-7 pieces of medium size)
Vegetable oil – 1/4 cup
Garlic – 3 prongs
Fresh parsley, cilantro, thyme and dill – just 100 grams
Salt – 2 tablespoons
Bulgarian pepper – 2 pieces
Preparation of products
1. Peel the onions and cut into thin half rings.
2. Eggplant? if the fruits are large, peel (do not peel off young eggplants) and cut into large longitudinal strips.
3. Wash the tomatoes and cut the stalk, finely chop or scroll through a meat grinder.
4. Peel the bell pepper from the stalk and seed capsule, cut lengthwise into 8-10 pieces.
5. Peel the garlic and chop finely.
6. Wash the greens, dry them, shaking them over the sink, and chop finely.
7. Peel and chop the potatoes into cubes 3 centimeters in size.
How to cook ajapsandali in a saucepan
1. Pour vegetable oil into a saucepan and put on fire.
2. Hold the pan with oil over the fire for 30 seconds, then add the onion; fry the onion for 5 minutes until golden brown.
3. Add eggplants, potatoes and peppers to the onion.
4. Cover the pot with vegetables and cook for 20 minutes with regular stirring.
5. Add tomatoes, cook ajapsandali for half an hour.
6. Remove ajapsandali from heat, add chopped herbs, pepper and salt, stir.
7. Before serving ajapsandali, infuse for 10 minutes under the lid.
How to cook ajapsandali in the microwave
1. Put the onion in a deep dish for microwave ovens, add vegetable oil (2 tablespoons) and fry for 1,5 minutes at a power of 1000 watts.
2. Add eggplants, potatoes, peppers and tomatoes, cook for another 5 minutes, then stir and cook for another 5 minutes.
3. Add herbs, salt and pepper, and cook in the microwave on the same power for another 10 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes.
How to cook ajapsandali in a slow cooker
1. Set the multicooker to the “Fry” mode, heat for 1 minute, add oil and put onion. 2. Fry the onions for 3 minutes with constant stirring.
3. Pour potatoes, eggplants, bell peppers into the multicooker, mix and close the lid of the multicooker.
4. Set the multicooker to the “Cooking” mode, cook ajapsandali for 40 minutes.
5. Add salt and pepper, herbs to ajapsandali, mix and cook for another 5 minutes, then leave for another 10 minutes.
Delicious facts
– The name of the dish means you are delicious.
– In the original Caucasian recipe for ajapsandali, all the vegetables are fried separately from each other and then reclined on a sieve to glass excess oil. In addition, potatoes are not included in Georgian ajapsandali. Kindred dishes – vegetable stew, sauté.
– Fresh herbs in the ajapsandali recipe can be replaced with dried ones. Dried cilantro, parsley, dill, thyme, rosemary and basil are allowed.
– The most suitable for cooking ajapsandali is a cauldron or a thick-walled saucepan, in which onions are fried equally well and vegetables are cooked.
– Ajapsandali is served hot as a side dish or cold as an appetizer.
– To make the ajapsandali spicier, add ajika, hot pepper or tomato paste.
– Serve ajapsandali with sauce – thick kefir with chopped garlic.
– Ajapsandali is allowed to be steamed by placing a saucepan with vegetables over a larger saucepan in which water is poured.
– It is allowed to add meat to ajapsandali – then it is necessary to cook the dish for 1,5-2 hours, and monitor the liquid level during cooking.
– Ajapsandali can be prepared for the winter – according to the principle of boiling eggplant caviar. It is enough to cook the dish for half an hour, pour in twice as much oil when cooking, and when pouring, use only sterilized lids and jars.