Adjika is a national dish of Abkhazian and Georgian cuisine, but the seasoning has also won the love of many Russians. Traditionally, adjika is prepared from hot red pepper, coriander, garlic, utskho-suneli and other spicy herbs with the addition of a small amount of salt. This mixture is usually ground on a stone.
But now, very often, hot sauce includes tomatoes, and some housewives do not limit themselves to the classic recipe, adding other vegetables. These can be zucchini, eggplant, carrots, etc., and pumpkin lovers will love adjika with this vegetable. In the cold winter, a hot, spicy sauce with a delicate consistency will come in handy with any meat and fish dish, as well as a side dish. It will charge you not only with vigor, but also with vitamins.
How to choose the right products for pumpkin adjika
The main ingredient of this adjika is pumpkin. Any type of ripe vegetable is suitable for cooking. The pumpkin is peeled and seeds removed, and the soft parts are cut out.
Carrots and tomatoes choose any variety. The main thing is that the vegetables are ripe. The peppers are sweet and fleshy, of different colors. You will also need sour seasonal apples and hot chili peppers. Garlic heads are chosen with a purple tint.
Advice! You can experiment with onions and choose bulbs with a sweet or spicy taste.
If desired, spices and herbs (parsley, dill, cilantro) are added to the pumpkin adjika. The amount of sugar and salt is adjusted to achieve the desired taste.
Principles of preparing adjika for the winter
Adjika is classified as Georgian and Abkhazian cuisine. This is a spicy seasoning that is used as an addition to first or second courses. Plum, apple or gooseberry adjika is added to steaks grilled over charcoal or barbecue. .
Over time, ideas about adjika, as a complex of dry mixtures, have changed and acquired a multidirectional character. It is prepared on the basis of:
- tomatoes;
- pepper;
- eggplant;
- apples;
- plums;
- garlic
Any type of pepper is a mandatory component - it gives the dish the necessary spiciness and taste. In addition, adjika is classified according to the time of preparation: the paste is prepared before direct consumption or for storage for the winter.
The basic principle of preparation is the complete grinding of all ingredients. To do this, use a meat grinder or blender.
Pumpkin adjika recipe
Before starting cooking, you need to wash the vegetables well. The components are crushed using a regular grater or kitchen equipment: a meat grinder, blender or food processor. To cook pumpkin adjika, choose an enamel pan. Metal containers are not used as they lead to oxidation of the product.
Detailed recipe for pumpkin adjika:
- Peel carrots and apples, then grate them on a coarse grater.
- The pumpkin is cut into large pieces. They are ground in a meat grinder or food processor.
- The peppers are divided in half, the core and stalks are discarded.
- Large tomatoes are cut in half and the stem attachment point is removed.
- Chili peppers are used whole if you need to get a spicy snack. If strong pungency is not required, you can remove the seeds from the pods.
- After preparation, the vegetables are turned through a meat grinder. It is convenient to grind the ingredients in a blender.
- Salt and sugar are added to the total mass. If the pumpkin is sweet enough, then 2 tbsp is enough. l. Sahara. If the taste of the pulp is more bland, then you will need 3-4 tbsp. l.
- The adjika is mixed well and put on fire.
- Cover the pan with a lid. The mass is simmered over low heat for no more than an hour. Periodically stir the adjika with a spoon.
- Garlic cloves are passed through a garlic press and added to the overall mixture.
- Then vinegar is poured.
- The adjika is mixed again and tasted. If the taste needs to be adjusted, add spices, more salt or sugar.
- Cook the mixture for another 5 minutes.
- If desired, adjika is ground in a blender or food processor. Then you will get a puree-like consistency.
- The dish is cooled, placed in jars and placed in the refrigerator. Before serving, add some fresh or dried herbs.
For winter storage, prepare glass jars with a capacity of 1-2 liters. First, they are washed with soda under warm water. Then place it in a preheated oven for 15-20 minutes or place it in a water bath for sterilization. Pumpkin adjika is poured into containers while hot. Metal lids are boiled in a saucepan for 10-15 minutes, then the containers are sealed.
Another way to prepare a dish for long-term storage is pasteurization. The product is poured into jars and kept in a water bath for 30 minutes. The containers are closed with metal lids. The finished jars are placed on the floor and left overnight until completely cooled.
The procedure for preparing spicy adjika from pumpkin is shown in the video review:
What to do if you oversalted adjika?
To save over-salted dressing, you can use one of the traditional methods:
- The mixture is poured into a spacious container, filled with cold water exceeding the volume of the workpiece, and left for several hours. After this, the precipitate is poured off and the mixture is boiled again. This method is called extraction or desalting.
- To the vegetable dressing prepared according to the recipe, add another half portion of the products, with the exception of salt.
An alternative to reducing the amount of salt is to simmer a bag of white rice in the vegetables. Rice absorbs excess salt and improves the overall taste of the dish.
Terms and conditions of storage
Classic adjika has a long shelf life due to the presence of salt and hot pepper. Sterilization and pasteurization of jars helps to increase this period. Canned pumpkin preparations are stored in the refrigerator, cellar or basement. Then the shelf life of adjika will be about a year.
If the product has not been canned, it must be used within 30 days. An open jar is kept in the refrigerator for 1-1.5 months. In room conditions, the preparations are stored for up to six months in containers with iron lids.
Adjika with green apples - a finger-licking recipe
The level of magic seasoning they talk about will have you licking your fingers.
You will need:
- Peppers, apples and greenish carrots: for any product, take 2 kilograms.
- Tomatoes – 5 kg
- Hot pepper, garlic - 300 g each.
- Salt - 3 tablespoons.
- Oil - liter
Preparation:
- Grind the vegetables in a meat grinder.
- Salt and add vegetable oil. Cook for two hours and seal in a sterilized jar.
Adjika is ready!
Adjika with peppers and apples - a simple recipe
You will need:
- Sweet pepper - 500 gr.
- Bitter - 1 pod.
- Parsnip root - 1 pc.
- Carrots - 200 gr.
- Apples - 2 pieces
- Tomatoes – 2 kg
- Dill, but necessary.
Preparation:
- Grind the ingredients in a meat grinder. Remove the tomato pulp first (scald it to make it easier).
- The seasoning takes two and a half hours to cook.
- Place in jars and immediately roll up while still hot.
Spicy adjika recipe
It should be remembered that the weight of the ingredients for spicy pumpkin adjika for the winter is given in the recipe in its pure form, that is, after cleaning.
So, what products will you need to prepare:
- dessert pumpkin – 2 kg;
- garlic – 100 grams;
- tomato paste – 350 grams;
- unrefined vegetable oil – 1 cup;
- granulated sugar - half or a whole glass;
- bay leaf – 8-9 pieces;
- rock salt – 2 level tablespoons;
- ground black and red hot pepper - one teaspoon each;
- table vinegar 9% – 125 ml.
As you can see from the recipe, the set of ingredients is minimal, but the taste of pumpkin adjika for the winter is no worse. It takes 45-50 minutes to cook.
Cooking features
Preparing vegetables
- Since the pumpkin lies on the ground, grains of sand and even small pebbles stick to it. Wash the vegetables thoroughly, changing the water several times. Wipe the pumpkin with a clean napkin and cut it into several pieces. We take out the pulp along with the seeds. Using a regular spoon, scrape the surface well from any remaining fibers.
- Peel the pumpkin and cut into strips. Then we make cubes from them. Grind the vegetable in a meat grinder, food processor or blender. Depending on what tool you have.
Cooking stages
- Place the pumpkin puree in a thick-walled saucepan and first place it on high heat, stirring constantly so as not to burn. Aluminum cookware for cooking adjika is not the best option.
- As soon as bubbles appear, indicating that the pumpkin adjika is boiling for the winter, switch to low temperature and cover the pan with a lid.
- Remove the peel and film from the garlic. Grind in a garlic press. Add it to the total mass 10 minutes after the pumpkin boils.
- Place tomato paste in adjika, add bay leaf, ground black and red pepper, salt and sugar. Add unrefined sunflower oil. Mix the mass thoroughly. Cook for another 35 minutes. First, pour half a glass of sugar into the mixture, because sometimes pumpkin can be very sweet.
- Taste for salt, sugar and pepper. If these ingredients are not enough, add the required amount. Although many lovers of pumpkin adjika prefer not a sweetish, but a salty-hot taste. Pour in table vinegar and cook for another 5 minutes. Don't forget to constantly stir the contents of the pan.
Gorloder, or Siberian adjika with horseradish
The recipe from Siberia is quite capable of providing healthy competition to the fiery sauces from sunny Abkhazia.
The basis of the horloger is vigorous horseradish root. Suitable for meat and fish dishes, corned beef, and especially for barbecue and homemade grilled sausages. What do you need:
- 500 g tomatoes
- 50 g horseradish root
- 50 g garlic
- 1.5 tsp. salt
- 1 tsp Sahara
How to cook gorloder, or Siberian adjika with horseradish:
1. Grind tomatoes, garlic and horseradish in a meat grinder.
2. Combine all ingredients, add salt and sugar, mix.
3. Place in sterilized jars and roll up.
The most delicious adjika made from plums and garlic
A rich harvest of plums will allow you to prepare an original sauce with this juicy, sweet and sour berry. It’s nice that thanks to the ability to regulate the pepper, you can achieve both a delicate taste and original spiciness. It’s quick, easy to prepare, no need to stand at the stove for hours, and the taste is simply unique!
Ingredients:
- Plum (peeled) – 1 kg
- Bell pepper – 1 kg
- Tomatoes (take the densest fruits, without excess juice) – 0.5 kg
- Chili pepper - to taste, to regulate spiciness
- Tomato paste – 250 g
- Garlic – 5-6 cloves
- Sugar – 1 tbsp.
- Salt – 2 tbsp. no slide
- Vinegar 9% - 2 tbsp. (you can cook without it for quick cooking; for winter preservation, vinegar is required)
- We grind everything with a meat grinder, food processor, or blender. First, it is better to process the tomatoes to boil them quickly (to obtain a thick consistency, you will have to wait for the excess moisture to evaporate).
- Place the container on the fire, gradually adding the ground ingredients (the pan with the first ingredients is already on the stove, and we continue to chop other vegetables one by one).
- Add natural tomato paste (no additives), sugar, salt, mix well.
- Cook until thickened with the lid removed.
- Then beat with a blender to give the sauce a homogeneous mass.
- Bring to a boil, add vinegar, let cook for a minute, pour into pre-sterilized jars.
Hot adjika with basil
Spicy!
Very spicy! Even hotter! The versatility of the recipe is that this adjika can be used not only for meat dishes, but also for sandwiches, sauces, soups and even pasta. What do you need:
- 500 g hot red pepper (you can add a couple of green peppers)
- 400 g garlic
- 2 bunches green basil
- 1 bunch of cilantro
- 1 bunch of parsley
- 2 tbsp. salt
How to prepare hot adjika with basil:
1. Cut off the stalks of the peppers, do not remove the seeds.
2. Wash and dry the greens.
3. Pass all ingredients together with salt through a meat grinder 4-5 times to make the mass as homogeneous as possible.
4. Transfer the adjika into a glass or enamel bowl and leave at room temperature for 4 days.
5. Then put into clean jars and store in the refrigerator.
