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On our table every now and then there are various purchased sauces, which cost a lot of money, and do not add much benefit to the body. They have only one dignity - taste. But many housewives know that you can independently prepare a wonderful tasty and natural sauce, the recipe of which was invented a long time ago in Abkhazia. This sauce is called adjika. The product combines a whole range of products to obtain a combination of pungency, acidity and sweetness.
Professional chefs and experienced housewives will surely be able to cook adjika according to several proven recipes. It can be very difficult for novice cooks to choose the best option from the whole variety of recipes. For them, we will try to highlight the best recipes for adjika with garlic and pepper, you can find out detailed information about which in the article below.
Recipes to remember
Adjika is a unique product that can be cooked without boiling and stored in the refrigerator throughout the winter. In this case, the ingredients retain their freshness and excellent taste, and bring irreplaceable benefits to the human body. In addition to the "fresh" options, there are a huge number of different recipes using boiling. The process of thermal processing of products allows you to obtain an especially delicate sauce of a uniform consistency, which is convenient to store in a pantry or cellar. Which recipe for making adjika can be chosen only by the hostess herself, we will offer the best options from pepper and garlic.
The classic recipe for "fresh" adjika
In winter, a lack of vitamins is especially felt, which a person seeks to compensate with fresh fruits, vegetables, and sometimes medicines. Adjika, cooked without boiling, in this case can become a real treasure, a storehouse of vitamins. Fresh garlic, tomatoes and peppers will make many dishes not only tastier, but also healthier.
A set of products for cooking
The main ingredient in the sauce will be tomatoes. One recipe will require 2 kg of these fleshy, ripe vegetables. Bulgarian pepper in the amount of 750 g will complement the tomatoes and give a special taste to the finished product. Garlic (100 g), hot pepper (1 pod), 9% vinegar (100 ml) and salt (1 tablespoon) are also required ingredients.
Cooking in stages
Cooking "fresh" adjika will not take much time, but it is important to follow some rules and take into account the characteristics of the product. The absence of heat treatment makes the sauce especially useful, however, violations of technology can provoke fermentation, as a result of which the adjika will deteriorate.
It is possible to prepare "fresh" adjika with high quality only if the following recommendations are followed:
- Choose ripe, but strong, fleshy tomatoes for the sauce, without visible damage on the surface. Their skin should be as thin as possible. Otherwise, it will have to be removed.
- Selected, quality tomatoes should be washed thoroughly and any moisture removed from their surface with a paper towel.Cut the stalk attachment point with a knife, divide the tomato into small pieces.
- Wash and peel the Bulgarian pepper by removing the grains from the inside of the vegetable. Cut it into slices.
- Hot peppers can be peeled or stored. It depends on the culinary preference. The preserved grains will add spice and flavor to the sauce. If it is decided to make a particularly spicy adjika, then you can use 2 bitter peppers in one recipe at once.
- Garlic just needs to be divided into cloves and peeled.
- Grind all ingredients. To do this, you can use a meat grinder or blender.
- Add salt and vinegar to the resulting mixture of vegetables. After that, the sauce must be kept for an hour at room temperature.
- It is necessary to store "fresh" adjika in sterilized jars under a tight nylon lid in the refrigerator.
This recipe is one of the best. Its advantages are difficult to overestimate: ease of preparation, lack of heat treatment, rich vitamin composition, long-term storage and excellent taste - this is not a complete list of the advantages of adjika made from fresh vegetables. Such a healthy and tasty sauce will be an excellent addition to any dish.
A spicy recipe for always "fresh" adjika
Having decided to cook "fresh" adjika from pepper and garlic for the winter, you can use another interesting recipe. It is similar to the above recipe, but requires the use of ingredients in a certain amount, which makes the adjika spicier.
Necessary products
When making "fresh" or as it is also called "raw", adjika for the winter should strictly observe the recommended proportions of ingredients, since an excess or deficiency of a particular product can significantly reduce the shelf life of the sauce. It is recommended to use fleshy, ripe, red tomatoes in the amount of 3 kg as a basis for preparing adjika. 1 kg of bell pepper will complement the sauce with its special taste and aroma. Garlic will need about 500 g, hot pepper is used in an amount of 150 g. You will also need to add 4 tbsp. To the sauce. l. salt and 3 tbsp. l. Sahara.
Cooking method
In the manufacture of adjika, it is necessary to follow all the basic rules for cleaning vegetables, as in the above recipe. This will make the product resistant to fermentation and mold. If we talk directly about the cooking process itself, then it can be described literally in three stages:
- Grind all prepared vegetables to a puree consistency. To do this, you can use a meat grinder or blender.
- After thorough mixing, add salt and sugar to the vegetable puree, then mix it again.
- Soak adjika at room temperature for 6-7 hours, then transfer it to jars and close it tightly with a plastic lid. Adjika should be stored in the refrigerator.
Adjika turns out to be quite spicy due to the large amount of garlic and hot pepper... However, such a composition will allow a person to get the maximum amount of vitamins and keep warm in the cold winter. You can add sauce to the first and second courses, or simply eat it with bread.
Boiled Bulgarian pepper adjika
Usually, adjika is based on the use of tomatoes, however, there are recipes based on the use of squash, pumpkin or bell pepper. Pepper-based adjika is best suited for lovers of this vegetable. It is quite simple to prepare it using a short boil. More details about the recipe can be found below in the section.
A set of products for cooking
As noted, the main ingredient in adjika will be bell pepper. It must be taken in an amount of 1.5 kg. Tomatoes are also present in the composition, but their number should not exceed 1 kg. Garlic and bitter pepper pods are used to spice up the sauce.Garlic is used in the amount of 300 g, hot pepper is taken in the amount of 3 pieces. Also, for cooking, you will need vegetable oil (50 ml), sugar, salt and vinegar (literally 1 tbsp. L.).
Cooking features
Once all the necessary ingredients are collected, you can start making the sauce:
- Wash the bell pepper thoroughly, remove its stalk and grains from the inside. Cut the vegetable into small wedges.
- Peel ripe tomatoes from the skin and rough spots of the stalk attachment.
- Grind tomatoes and peppers until smooth, put the resulting mass in a saucepan and put on the fire to boil.
- As soon as the vegetable mixture begins to boil, add salt, sugar, oil and vinegar to it.
- The recommended cooking time is 1.5 hours.
- Stir the mixture regularly while boiling. Add chopped garlic to adjika 10-15 minutes before the end of cooking. At the same time, you can try the sauce and, if necessary, add the missing spices to it.
- Put the finished product in jars and preserve.
Of course, during heat treatment, some useful substances from adjika disappear, but its naturalness is still advantageous in comparison with purchased sauces and ketchups. The main advantage of boiled adjika is long-term storage without observing the temperature regime. You can store canned food in a pantry or cellar.
No tomatoes
This recipe is unique in that it contains absolutely no tomatoes. The base of the sauce is red bell pepper. The taste of such adjika can complement absolutely any dish, recalling the warm summer.
Products for cooking
Despite the fact that the base of the sauce is sweet pepper, the taste of adjika is quite spicy. This is due to the fact that 200 g of garlic and 5 chili peppers are added to 2 kg of sweet peppers. You can brighten up the spiciness with sugar. The amount of this ingredient must be added to taste, but the optimal amount is 8 tbsp. spoons. As preservatives, add 2 tbsp. l. salt and 100 ml of apple cider vinegar 9%.
Cooking features
Adjika for the winter from bell pepper will be cooked using a short heat treatment. The whole process will take a little time, because a limited amount of vegetables can be quickly washed and peeled. Adjika will only boil until boiling. The following points can tell you about cooking in detail:
- Wash the sweet pepper, remove the stalk and grains from the inside.
- There is no need to peel hot peppers from seeds, only the stalk needs to be removed.
- Grind two types of peppers and peeled garlic with a meat grinder.
- Add the remaining ingredients to the mixture, bring it to a boil and place in sterilized jars.
- You need to store adjika from pepper in the refrigerator.
Georgian adjika
Georgian adjika is special. Its preparation is based on hot pepper. Without trying this seasoning, it is difficult to imagine how pungent and rich it tastes. You can cook it for the whole winter, but you do not need to cook the ingredients. Adjika is stored in the refrigerator and, if necessary, can always supplement meat, fish or mushroom dishes. Hot seasoning can also be added to borscht as a dressing.
Ingredient set
Georgian adjika cannot be spread on bread and eaten with spoons: it is too spicy, but great as a seasoning for soups or meat dishes. Adjika is prepared in small portions. So, for one recipe, 300 g of garlic and hot pepper, 100 g of herbs and 50 g of salt are used. Dill, cilantro, tarragon and parsley are traditionally used as herbs in equal proportions.
Cooking fast and tasty
An experienced hostess will cook Georgian adjika in just 30 minutes.Novice culinary specialists may be interested in the fact how to cook adjika according to the Georgian recipe, it is fast and tasty. And there are no special tricks in cooking. For this it is only necessary:
- Peel the garlic, wash the pepper. Seeds can be removed from the pepper if desired.
- Chop the pepper and garlic with a meat grinder.
- Rinse greens, dry and chop finely with a knife. Mix it with salt.
- After mixing thoroughly, leave the sauce on the table until the salt melts. Then mix the adjika again and transfer to jars.
- You need to store Georgian adjika in a refrigerator.
This recipe preserves as much as possible the traditions of preparing adjika. After all, it was once prepared by mixing herbs, garlic and other spices with salt in equal proportions. This seasoning was applied to bread and enjoyed the pungent taste and excellent aroma of adjika. Today, most recipes are based on the use of vegetables that are neutral in taste, which make it possible to obtain an analogue of delicate sauces and ketchups. Spicy adjika from garlic and hot pepper can be prepared according to the Abkhaz recipe without cooking. An example of its preparation can be found in the video:
Conclusion
Healthy eating is a fashionable trend of our time. Everyone wants to preserve their health and beauty, using only the most natural and healthy products. Adjika is such a product. Serving it to the table, the hostess shows her concern for family and friends. The variety of recipes allows you to choose a cooking option that meets the taste needs of each family member.
