Tkemali sauce at home 

Georgia has long been famous for its spices, 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 cook real sauces at home. After all, although the necessary spices and herbs are grown in the expanses, the air is still not the same. And, therefore, the taste of ready-made tkemali sauces will be different.

Today we will talk about how to make Georgian tkemali at home. At home, it is prepared from tkemali plums, which have an exquisite sour taste. Since it is almost impossible to buy these fruits, you can use sour plums for homemade sauce for the winter. It is sour fruits, since from sweet varieties it will turn out, rather, jam with pepper.

Tkemali recipes

There are many recipes for making tkemali sauce at home for the winter. Let’s consider several options. In the first version, tkemali plums are used.

Option One

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

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

The cooking process

And now about how to cook tkemali sauce at home:

We sort out the plums, rinse thoroughly. Then we put the plum in a bowl, fill it with water to the surface of the fruit and put it on the stove at medium temperature. Cook until the plums are softened and the peel is bursting.

After that, remove the container from the fire and let it cool. Remove the plums with a slotted spoon and grind through a sieve with a wooden spoon. Plums are used to make homemade sauce according to recipes, mashed. The bones and peel remain in the sieve. They need to be folded into gauze and squeezed out the juice. We add it to the puree.

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

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

We clean the hot pepper, take out the seeds from it. Decide for yourself how much pepper to add to homemade tkemali sauce, because each person has special taste preferences. Fans of spicy food can add more of this seasoning. But in any case, after adding a third of the pod, try it first.

Plum puree, as stated in the recipe, mix with herbs and plums. If it seems to you that the mass is too thick, you can add plum decoction. Cook plum sauce over medium heat, stirring constantly.

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

Boil the mass 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 until the sauce has cooled down. Instead of jars, you can use small bottles. Tkemali sauce is stored in a cold place.

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

Option two

And now let’s talk about how to make tkemali sauce at home for the winter from ordinary blue plums. When preparing tkemali, plums of the Vengerka variety are best suited for this purpose. But unfortunately, when buying fruits in a store, we do not know their varietal affiliation. Therefore, we get plums with a rich blue color.

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

• plums of the Hungarian variety – 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

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

Tkemali sauce from plums for the winter, prepared on our own, is transferred to jars and stored in a dark, cool place.

Option three – dried prunes tkemali

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

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:

1. We wash the prunes, pour 500 ml of water, put on fire. As soon as the plums boil, switch to a low temperature and cook for no more than 5 minutes.
2. Cool the fruits and discard in a colander. We pass a third of the liquid and prunes through a blender, then grind with a sieve to obtain a delicate consistency. If necessary, add a little of the remaining plum broth to the resulting puree.
3. Now salt, add spices and cook for about 10 minutes. Prune tkemali sauce is ready. Can be placed in jars.

Conclusion

Here is 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 have noticed that it is not difficult to prepare a delicious sauce. But we advise you to engage in any preparations in a good mood. Then everything will work out. Good luck and bon appetit.