Georgia About

Georgian food is often accompanied by sauces, such as Ajika (Georgian: აჯიკა) and Tkemali (Georgian ტყემალი). In this family recipe we show how to make a spicy tomato sauce.

Ingredients: 10 kilos of juicy tomatoes.

1.5 kilos of hot red peppers.

50 grams of hot dried red pepper, 350 grams of garlic (net weight after skins removed), 5 heaped tbs of salt, 5 heaped tbs of dried coriander, 5 tbs of vinegar and 1 liter of water. Note: not all quantities are shown in the picture below.

Preparation: Cut each tomato into 3 or 4 pieces and add to a pot. Add 1 liter of water.

Cover and cook on a medium heat for 30 minutes.

Grind the peppers and garlic. We used a meat grinder.

The ground garlic and peppers should look like the picture below.

Add the coriander, dried red pepper, salt and vinegar.

Thoroughly mix the ingredients.

The mixed ingredients should look like the picture below.

Drain the juice from the cooked tomatoes into a new pot using a sieve that has large holes.

Mash the tomatoes with a wooden spoon.

Completely mash until all of the juice has been extracted and only skins are left. The extracted juice will look like the picture below.

Use a hand blender or food processor to blend the tomato skins that were left in the sieve. Do the same for the ground garlic/pepper mixture.

Add the blended tomato pulp and garlic/pepper mixture to the tomato juice. Stir. Bring to the boil and then simmer for 50 minutes on a low to medium heat, stirring frequently.

If you intend to use the tomato sauce over a short period, allow it to cool down before bottling. Store in the refrigerator. To keep it for longer periods without refrigeration, prepare the bottles by washing thoroughly and leaving until they are completely dry. Half fill a tall pot with water. Add the bottles. Heat on a low to medium temperature for 15 minutes. Place the plastic caps that will be used to seal the bottles in boiling water. Fill each bottle to the top with hot tomato sauce and seal immediately with one of the plastic caps that has been boiled and dried. This bottling method allows the tomato sauce to be stored for long periods in a cool, dark place without the need for refrigeration.

Serving: The sauce is delicious with meat, potatoes, fried eggs – in fact, almost everything! If sealed in airtight jars it can be kept for months.

Enjoy your Georgian Spicy Tomato Sauce!

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