Tkemali sauce: what is it and how to cook it?

At the moment there are a lot of different ways of making sauces. Some of them are suitable only for fish or meat, and some are universal. There are sauces that are easily prepared at home. It is to them and refers tkemali. What it is? This is a kind of sauce made from plums (cherry plums). The recipe came from Georgia.

Tkemali: what is it?

In fact, tkemali are a variety of acidic wild plums. However, the same name is also used for sauce, which can be prepared at home. There are only a few varieties of this dish: green and red. Recipes for their preparation are practically the same. However, there is a significant difference.

So, the red tkemali. What is it and what is it used for? Such a sauce is prepared, as a rule, at the end of summer from ripe red plums. Of course, red is only a symbol. Ready-made sauce can have a yellow and even orange tinge. In some cases, a blackthorn is added to the composition. Then the finished sauce gets a burgundy color.

What about the green tkemali? What is it and from what do it? In this case, the sauce is prepared from immature fruits of wild plum. Closing it for the winter is not recommended. Use green tkemali as needed.

With what is combined tkemali

Tkemali is a fragrant sauce that can be eaten with many products. At the same time, the taste of the finished product is slightly acidic and slightly spicy. Tkemali perfectly matches with fried meat, with a bird and even fish. It can be eaten with pasta, omelette, shish kebab and young potatoes.

Many argue that the sauce has simply unique properties. It not only gives the dishes a unique taste, but also can neutralize excess fat.

How to cook

Tkemali in Georgian is very easy to prepare. This will require:

1. Alycha red is 1 kg.
2. Red pepper, spicy - from 1 to 3 pods.
3. Sugar sand - to taste.
4. Blooming cilantro is the middle bunch. If necessary, it can be replaced with ground coriander grains.
5. Salt.
6. Mint swamp or ordinary, young garlic, dill - on the average bundle.

Preparation of berries

To prepare the sauce from the sinks, you must prepare all the main products. The berries should be washed and placed in a deep container. It is also worth pouring water so that it only covers the fruit a little. A pan with a cherry plum should be placed on the fire and bring its contents to a boil. After that, the water must be drained. The procedure must be repeated. Water should be poured so that it covers berries for two fingers. The container with fruits should be placed on a fire and brought to a boil. Cook the fruits until they become softer. It takes about half an hour.

What to do after cooking

Plum sauce is cooked quickly enough. After heat treatment, the fruit should be allowed to cool for 30 minutes, and then rewet. The resulting jam should be passed through a sieve. This will remove the skin and bones. Cake should be carefully wrung out. For this it is necessary to use a strainer with a fine mesh. The remaining bones and peel should be discarded.

Cooking process

Dill, coriander, young garlic and mint should be finely chopped or chopped with a meat grinder. The resulting mass must be mixed with cherry puree. It is necessary to add salt, as well as chopped hot pepper. A cherry plum is almost ready. It remains to thoroughly mix and try.

If the sauce is very sour, then it is worth adding a little sugar syrup or sugar. If the tkemali is thick, then you can bring it to the desired consistency with ordinary boiled water.

How to store

Tkemali from red plum can be stored simply in the refrigerator or rolled up and stored in a cellar. In the first case, the prepared sauce after the preparation should be poured into carefully washed jars of glass and covered with a cap nylon. You can also store tkemali in bottles.

As for the winter variant, here there are some features. During the preparation of this sauce, dried spices are added. Use fresh herbs is not recommended. All components are cooked, and then poured into carefully washed and sterilized containers. Vegetable oil is also poured here. After that, the cans with sauce are tightly sealed and stored in a cool place.

Cooking recommendations

Now you know how to cook tkemali for the winter. Of course, if necessary, the sauce recipe can be changed a little. It all depends on what products are available. If there is no red or yellow plum, then it is not recommended to use a regular plum. The product will not be very tasty. It is possible to replace the main component with green gooseberry. The technology of preparing tkemali does not change.

If you do not have swamp or ordinary mint, you can also replace it. Most often for the preparation of tkemali from red plum is used thyme or lemon balm.

The process of preparing the sauce also has its own characteristics. When cooking, cherry plum should be regularly mixed. However, tools that are made of metal or plastic are not suitable for this. It is better to use a spoon made of wood. Otherwise, the taste of the sauce will be spoiled.

It is also not recommended to add vinegar to the vinegar. Even if the sauce will be rolled for the winter. In this case, a few teaspoons of vegetable oil should be poured into the tkemali jar. This will protect the product from damage.