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Each nation's cuisine has its own characteristics. As a rule, they are due to the range of products that can be grown in the area. Georgia is a fertile country. Any, even the most heat-loving vegetables grow well in the hot southern sun. Therefore, there are so many of them in different dishes. Peppers, tomatoes, beans, onions, garlic are cooked in Georgia. But the palm, undoubtedly, belongs to the eggplant. They love them there, and they cook with pleasure no less than in our Russian south. The number of dishes that include these vegetables is great. They also make blanks for winter.
Pickled eggplants, canned are very tasty in pieces with tomatoes. But most often caviar is prepared from them.
Classic Georgian eggplant caviar
Georgian eggplant caviar has standard, time-tested ingredients. These are necessarily peppers, tomatoes, onions, garlic, herbs, various spices. The peculiarity of Georgian cuisine is a large number of herbs and spices. Not a single meal is complete without a dish with various spicy herbs, and any food is generously seasoned with pepper and other spices. And this is understandable. In hot climates, any food can go bad quickly. Garlic and pepper slow down this process.
For 6 medium-sized eggplants you will need:
- tomatoes, carrots, hot and sweet peppers - 2 pcs.;
- garlic - 6 cloves;
- parsley - a large bunch;
- lean oil - 150 ml;
- various spices: hot pepper, coriander, fenugreek;
- salt is added to taste;
This caviar is prepared quickly. Eggplants are peeled, cut into slices, laid out in the pan, pour over with oil, sprinkle with salt, fry for 15 minutes.
Finely chop onions and carrots, fry together in one pan with the addition of oil for only 5 minutes. The fire should be medium. Add chopped tomatoes there, add salt, season with spices. Without further frying, chop the vegetables in puree.
Fried eggplants, sweet pepper, garlic are rolled through a meat grinder.
Mix all the vegetables, season them with finely chopped parsley, heat over the fire for another 4-5 minutes. This dish is served hot. Chopped hot peppers are used as decoration.
For winter preparation, the vegetable mixture must be warmed up for about 30 minutes over low heat, adding finely chopped hot peppers.
To keep the caviar better, you can add 1 teaspoon of 9% vinegar to the vegetable mixture.
Caviar is packaged in sterilized jars immediately after preparation. Boiled lids are used for rolling. Banks should be wrapped for a day.
According to the following recipe, caviar is prepared from baked peppers and eggplant, which reduces the amount of vegetable oil and makes the dish more tender. A large amount of tomatoes makes the caviar taste rich and the color bright.
Georgian eggplant caviar with onions and baked vegetables
Of the spices in the recipe, there is only salt and black pepper. But each housewife can expand their assortment according to her taste, giving the dish a real "Georgian" taste.
For 5 kg of small eggplant you will need:
- tomatoes - 5 kg;
- carrots, red bell peppers, onions - 2 kg each;
- lean oil - 200 ml;
- garlic - 2 heads;
- hot pepper - 2 pcs.;
- salt and ground pepper.
This caviar is seasoned with spices, salt, garlic and hot pepper according to the taste and wishes of the hostess. You can add chopped greens to the caviar. Parsley and basil are best combined with eggplant.
We bake sweet peppers and eggplants in the oven. The baking temperature is about 200 degrees. And the time depends on the degree of ripeness of the vegetables.
Meanwhile, three carrots, chop the onion, mince the tomatoes. First fry the onion in a large frying pan, then add the carrots, fry again, add the tomato.
Peel the baked and slightly cooled vegetables, remove the seeds from the pepper, scroll through the meat grinder.
Combine all vegetables and simmer for about 40 minutes. 5-10 minutes before cooking, add spices, salt, chopped garlic and hot pepper, chopped greens.
Ready caviar should be spread out in pre-prepared jars and hermetically sealed. Jars and lids must be sterilized.
The following recipe is not intended for winter harvesting. Such caviar is served immediately to the table. It has a component that is unusual for us, but quite familiar to Georgian cuisine - walnuts.
They go well with eggplant and make this dish incredibly tasty. The balsamic sauce that completes it can be bought or made by yourself. Eggplants for this dish should be small and very thin.
For 15 eggplants you will need:
- shelled walnuts - 250 g;
- onions - 2 pcs.;
- pepperoni or hot pepper - 1 pc;
- garlic - 3-4 cloves;
- peppercorns and salt - to taste;
- vegetable oil - how much vegetables will require;
- balsamic sauce to taste.
We bake eggplants in the oven at 180 degrees until soft.
While the eggplants are baking, grind the walnuts to small crumbs with a blender.
Finely chop the onion and sauté a little in butter, add the nuts and fry for another 5-7 minutes.
Peel the warm eggplant and grind it with a blender. Add the eggplant puree to the onion with nuts and fry for 7-10 minutes.
Finely chop the garlic, piperoni or hot pepper, grind or crush the peppercorns. We add all this to the caviar and simmer for a few more minutes.
At the very end, season with balsamic sauce to taste. This caviar is best served cold. It is good both as an independent dish and as a spread on toast.
It is not so easy to get to Georgia nowadays. Therefore, it may not work out to taste delicious Georgian dishes where they are always prepared. But every hostess is quite capable of organizing a "day of Georgian cuisine" at home. Satsivi, lobio, khachapuri, kharcho - the list can be long. But eggplant caviar in Georgian must be cooked without fail.
