Tkemali is a delicious and aromatic sauce of traditional Georgian cuisine made from plums or cherry plums of any color. It is also characterized by the addition of certain spices - these are hops-suneli, utskho-suneli, coriander and hot red pepper. Tkemali is usually served with meat and poultry dishes.
Interesting facts about cooking tkemali
1. Tkemali is served not only with meat and chicken, it will also go well with fish and fried potatoes.
2. If tkemali is prepared for subsequent rolling into jars, then it is advisable to add a little vinegar essence or table vinegar (white, apple or wine) to the sauce.
3. If sweet plums are used in the preparation, then the amount of sugar in the recipe should be reduced. Some housewives advise not to add it at all.
4. The taste of the prepared sauce should be sweet and sour. If tkemali lacks acidity, then you should add a little citric acid dissolved in a teaspoon of drinking water.
5. For tkemali, which is made for the winter, you should prepare sterile glass jars with a volume of no more than 0.5 liters, which should be stored in a dark and cool room for no more than one year. After removing the lid, the jar is placed in the refrigerator and consumed within several days.
Tkemali in Georgian from dark plum
Ingredients:
- 3 kg of strong ripe plums;
- 100 g fresh cilantro (coriander);
- 2 heads of garlic;
- 1-2 tbsp. tablespoons of sugar;
- 1-2 tbsp. tablespoons of salt;
- 2 tbsp. spoons of filtered water;
- 2 teaspoons of ground dried coriander;
- 3 teaspoons of sunflower oil;
- 1 hot red pepper.
Cooking step by step:
1. Rinse the plums very thoroughly and place them in an enamel pot, cover with water (2 tablespoons). There is no need to separate the seeds at the plums at this stage. Put the utensils with fruits on the stove fire, bring to a boil, and then immediately reduce the heat to the lowest. Simmer the plums for 15-20 minutes, during which time the fruits should give juice and boil.
2. Rinse the cilantro and shake off any drops. Let the cilantro dry with paper towels. Rinse hot hot peppers, remove the tails. Disassemble the heads of garlic into cloves and free each of the husks.
3. Put the boiled plum in a metal colander or fine mesh strainer and rub into a stainless steel saucepan to separate the pulp and pits. Pour salt, granulated sugar and dried coriander into the resulting plum puree, mix. If the plums are sweet, then no sugar can be added at all. Place the sauce container on the stove and simmer for 30 minutes.
4. Chop hot peppers and cilantro, and pass the garlic through a garlic press. Add these ingredients to the plum sauce and keep the saucepan over the heat for another 10 minutes.
5. Sterilize small glass jars. You can put them in boiling water with the lids or use a microwave to sterilize. Spread the sauce over the jars while hot. Now carefully add some sunflower oil to each container. After that, immediately seal the jars with lids.
6. Store jars of tkemali sauce in a dark and cool place, for example, in a closet, but you can also in the refrigerator.
