For any cook, preparing the sauce, and even more so preparing it for the winter, is almost the most important of all culinary processes. Tkemali sauce is a typical representative of Georgian cuisine and its production requires several ingredients that grow only in Georgia and to the south. But this does not mean at all that in most of Our Country there is no way to make such a sauce.
Most popular recipes have been adapted to local conditions by resourceful hostesses. And tkemali sauce was no exception. Dishes and sauces with tomatoes have long been very popular in Our Country. They are often added even to those dishes that originally did not contain them at all. To make tkemali sauce, a recipe was invented using tomato paste, and it turned out to be so successful that it surpassed even the classic Caucasian recipe in its distribution. Having tried this sauce once in the winter, you are unlikely to be able to refuse such a preparation later.
Tomatoes or tomato paste
The easiest way to prepare tkemali sauce according to this recipe is from ready-made tomato paste sold in stores. Its thick consistency best suits the culinary requirements needed to prepare the sauce. But good tomato paste is sometimes difficult to find. On the other hand, if you have at your disposal your own personal plot with a large number of tomatoes grown on it, then, of course, you need to use them to make your own tomato paste.
According to this recipe, the tomatoes must be washed well in running water, cut into pieces, put a certain amount in a saucepan without liquid and put on heat.
Pretty soon, the tomatoes will release juice and settle. After mixing them, add another portion of tomatoes and again wait for the juice to be released. So, do it until the whole pan is filled with tomato mass to the top. Stirring constantly with a wooden spoon or spatula, bring the mass to a boil and cook for about 20 minutes over low heat. Then the juice can be drained by gently straining it through a colander, and from the remaining mass continue making the paste.
To do this, continue to keep it on low heat, stirring from time to time, until the contents of the pan are reduced by 5-6 times. Mix the prepared tomato paste with salt. According to the recipe for 1 kg of finished tomato paste, you need to add 90 grams of coarse salt.
Required components
So, what do you need to make tkemali sauce with tomato paste for the winter? All components are quite affordable and are unlikely to cause you any questions. But the taste of the sauce will turn out to be very harmonious, and the seasoning can be used both as an additive to meat and for making first courses, for example, the famous kharcho soup.
The recipe has no restrictions on the use of a particular type of plum, but it is desirable that it be sour in taste. Cherry plum is ideal. In recent years, many amateur gardeners have been growing its cultivated forms in their plots, so from the end of July to September-October, these fruits can be easily found on the market or from friends.
- Cherry plum or sour plum – 4 kg;
- Tomato paste – 700 grams;
- Garlic – 300 grams;
- Hot red pepper – 3 pods;
- Coriander seeds – half a glass;
- Sugar – 1,5 cups;
- Salt – 60 grams.
You will also need water, you need to take enough of it to only cover the initial fruits of the cherry plum with a head.
Stages of manufacture
The very first step in making the sauce is the most difficult. It is necessary to rinse the cherry plum or plum well in running water, pour it in an enamel pan and put it on medium heat. After boiling, cook for a short time – literally 4-5 minutes and immediately discard the fruits in a colander. After draining excess liquid and cooling for some time, free the cherry plum from the seeds by rubbing it through a colander or through a sieve.
As a result, you should get a fairly liquid fruit mass.
At the next stage, peel the garlic and divide it into cloves, and free the hot pepper from the seed chambers and tails. Grind both components with a meat grinder or blender. Add tomato paste to them, in no case diluting it. At the end, put the coriander seeds, sugar and salt into the vegetable mixture and mix everything thoroughly.
At the last stage, combine the vegetable and fruit mixture, stir and put on medium heat. After boiling, cook for about 20 minutes. The sauce should turn out like thin sour cream.
To preserve it for the winter, the resulting tkemali sauce is laid out hot in sterilized jars. It is twisted by any metal sterile caps, both conventional and threaded.
There is nothing difficult in preparing tkemali sauce according to this recipe, but on the other hand, you can surprise your guests and family with an exquisite sauce for festive dishes.
