Georgian eggplants - general principles and methods of preparation.
IN Georgian cuisine Eggplants are given a place of honor, and there are countless ways to prepare them. They are fried, baked, pickled, stewed or salted. Prepared either separately, with garlic and nuts, or in combination with other vegetables or meat. Very often, white wine vinegar and garlic are added to eggplant appetizers, which give them a piquant and spicy taste.
It is difficult to imagine Georgian cuisine without an abundance of greens. Cilantro, basil, green onions, and parsley are present in almost every dish made from eggplants, which give the food a unique taste, further enriching it with vitamins and beneficial microelements.
Nuts also occupy an important place in Georgian cuisine. The favorites are undoubtedly the walnuts. Numerous sauces and seasonings are prepared with them, which go well with meat, fish and vegetables. Nuts are especially often added to eggplants, in the form of a crushed mass with herbs and garlic.
Georgian eggplants - best recipes:
Recipe 1: Buglama with eggplants in Georgian style.
This is a delicious national dish Georgian dish, although its variety can be found in other oriental cuisines, for example Azerbaijani. It’s not difficult to prepare in the sense that you don’t have to stand over it and constantly stir. Vegetables only need to be cut and placed in a bowl. While they are cooking on the stove, you can do other things. Buglama is one of the first courses, but it is prepared with the addition of a small amount of water. It can be cooked on the stove in a cauldron or in the oven in portioned pots. The recipe includes utskho-suneli - blue fenugreek seeds ground into powder, which add a touch of light and pleasant nutty flavor to the dish. If you don’t find utskho-suneli, add any other spices at your discretion. It's not quite the same, but it's still better than nothing.
Ingredients:
4 pcs. fairly large eggplants and potatoes, 600 g of meat (lamb or any other), 2 pcs. bell pepper, tomatoes and onions, 1 carrot and hot pepper, cilantro, dill and basil (or other, to your taste), 3 cloves of garlic, salt, utskho-suneli.
Cooking method:
Place the meat, cut into small pieces, in the cauldron as the first layer, with potato wedges on top. The next layer is eggplant, cut into circles. Sprinkle with salt. Next, alternately place onion half rings, salt, mugs (or cubes) of tomatoes, grated carrots, bell peppers, cut into slices or strips.
Pour 2 cups of broth or water into a cauldron with vegetables and meat, bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until closed lid about two hours.
10 minutes before the end of cooking, add utskho-suneli, chopped garlic and herbs, add salt if necessary and add chopped hot pepper. Buglama is served hot.
Recipe 2: Georgian eggplants.
This dish is prepared on the basis of baked eggplants, so it is important to choose large-sized fruits, but not overripe ones. Large ones, because when baked, eggplants shrink greatly in size, and it is important that in the end not only the skin and tails remain, but also a lot of tasty pulp.
Ingredients:
2 large eggplants, 1 onion, 150g walnuts, peeled, 3 medium cloves of garlic, cilantro and parsley, juice of a small lemon, half a teaspoon of spices - basil and suneli hops, hot ground pepper and salt to taste, a pinch of sugar, pomegranate seeds.
Cooking method:
Bake whole eggplants in the oven (200C) for about 40-45 minutes until soft. Cool, peel off the skin, chop the pulp with a knife.
Finely chop the onion, chop the garlic (on a track or using a garlic squeezer). Add lemon juice, all spices, along with sugar and salt, mix.
Grind walnuts in a mortar, blender or meat grinder. All ingredients are thoroughly mixed together and placed in the refrigerator for a day. Of course, you can eat it right away, but if the dish is infused, it acquires a special and unique taste. Therefore, it is better to wait a little, at least 12 hours. Before serving, generously sprinkle the appetizer with pomegranate seeds.
Recipe 3: Adjapsandal - Georgian eggplant stew.
To make it clearer what kind of dish this is, you need to find out what the word “adjapsandal” means. In a figurative sense, it implies a mixture of a large number of ingredients and objects. In Russian there is a similar definition - “vinaigrette”. That is why in this dish, depending on the specific recipe, many different vegetables can be mixed - tomatoes, green beans, potatoes, onions, bell peppers, carrots, but the main product is eggplant. Those. for one part they take half, or even a third, of the remaining products.
Ingredients:
eggplants - 1 kg, half a kilogram each of bell peppers and tomatoes, 250 g each of green beans, onions and carrots, 1 bunch of cilantro, parsley and basil, pepper and salt to taste, a pinch of saffron and ground coriander, vegetable oil - half a glass, 1 pod chili (hot pepper), 4 cloves of garlic, 1 bay leaf.
Cooking method:
Cut onions into small cubes, pepper into strips, eggplants into slices (or halves of slices), grate carrots coarsely.
Fry the eggplants (there is no need to peel them, but soaking them in salted water before frying will not hurt), transfer to a colander to let the oil drain. In the same frying pan, saute the onions, add peppers and carrots, fry everything together for 10 minutes, then transfer the vegetables to the eggplants.
Cut off the tails of the beans, break each pod into 2 or 3 pieces with your hands, boil in water until half cooked, drain in a colander. Remove the skins from the tomatoes, after dousing them with boiling water, then chop them.
Grind the garlic and cilantro in a mortar and mix with the tomatoes. Chop the remaining greens with a knife, slice the chili thinly, removing the seeds. Place all the chopped vegetables into the cauldron with the eggplants, as well as the bay leaf with spices and salt. Stir and simmer over low heat for 15 minutes.
Recipe 4: Georgian-style eggplants with nuts.
Eggplant with nut sauce is an original Georgian appetizer. It is an invariable attribute of any festive feast. It is easy to prepare and delicious to eat. Give it a try.
Ingredients:
4 eggplants, 150 g of walnuts (peeled), 1 bunch of parsley and cilantro, 1-2 medium onions, 3 cloves of garlic, a pinch of ground hot chili pepper and coriander, salt, white wine vinegar (can be apple) - 3 tbsp. l., vegetable oil.
Cooking method:
Cut the eggplants into longitudinal tongue slices and place in salted water for half an hour. Then dry (squeeze) and fry in oil.
For the filling: grind the nuts (in a mortar, through a meat grinder or in a blender), add finely chopped herbs, salt, add vinegar, add spices and squeeze out the garlic. Mix the mass thoroughly.
Place a spoonful of filling on the hot eggplant slices and fold in half. Cut the onion into thin rings. Place the eggplants with nuts on a plate, placing each roll with an onion ring. Now let them cool and stand for a while to soak. Before serving, the appetizer can be decorated with pomegranate seeds and parsley leaves.
You can cut eggplants not into longitudinal tongues, but into transverse circles. Then the filling should be placed between two fried circles, and an onion ring should be placed on top.
Georgian eggplants - useful tips from experienced chefs.
While relaxing in nature, try cooking shish kebab according to one of the recipes of Georgian cuisine. Mtsvadi is kebab in eggplant. For one serving you will need 1 eggplant and 150-200g of meat (originally lamb, but you can also use pork or poultry). Cut the eggplant lengthwise, place pieces of meat (salted and peppered) into the cut and thread them onto a skewer so as to pierce all the pieces and the eggplant itself at both ends. Fry over coals until cooked like a regular shish kebab, periodically brushing the eggplant and meat with vegetable oil.
Quelle der Zitate: http://zhenskoe-mnenie.ru/
Making Eggplant Rolls begins with frying the eggplants themselves. To do this, wash the vegetable, cut off the caps and cut the eggplants lengthwise into thin strips approximately 0.5 cm thick. If your eggplants are bitter, salt each strip well and leave to sit for 30 minutes, then rinse thoroughly with water and wipe all eggplants dry with paper towels. : Fried rolls this way will not splatter during the frying process. At this time, chop very finely onion and fry it in a frying pan with a small amount vegetable oil over medium heat until translucent and lightly golden and set aside. The filling for the Eggplant Rolls will partly consist of these onions. Place a flat-bottomed frying pan over medium-high heat, wait for it to heat up and begin frying the eggplant strips. I do this without oil at all to reduce the calorie content of the dish and get rid of unnecessary fat, which eggplants, like sponges, absorb cleanly. Eggplant rolls without oil are just as tasty. Fry the strips for 1-2 minutes on each side until golden brown, covering with a lid in both cases. Place the prepared eggplants in a plate; while all the pieces are frying, they will have time to cool a little. Delicious Georgian eggplant rolls will be much easier to roll this way. While all the eggplants are fried, prepare the filling. First, grind the nuts in a blender chopper. Eggplant rolls with nuts are incredibly delicious! By the way, if you don't like walnuts, you can replace them with cashews, almonds or hazelnuts - in all cases it will turn out great. Although I, for example, don’t like eating walnuts just like that, I really like all dishes with their presence, so try it! We put fried onions, fresh peeled garlic, coarsely chopped cilantro into the chopper, which can also be replaced with parsley if you don’t like it, suneli hops, salt, pepper and lemon juice or vinegar. By the way, I have a very cool article-guide about how , these lifehacks that I spied on famous chefs, saved many minutes of my life!
At the end, add a little purified water and grind everything until smooth. If the nut sauce is too thick, add a little more water and whisk again. Stuffed eggplants-the rolls are saturated nutty taste and the spiciness of Georgian spices! When the eggplant appetizer "Nut and Garlic Rolls" is ready to assemble, let's begin the process. Place the fried eggplant strip on your palm. Place 1 teaspoon of nut sauce on the very edge and begin to roll the eggplant roll from the edge with the filling to the very end. Eggplants and nuts go perfectly together. As a result, we get ready-made Georgian eggplant rolls, decorating the tops with a couple of pomegranate seeds, which amazingly complement the taste of this savory dish. We repeat the process with each ingredient and... eggplant rolls with nuts and garlic are ready! Next to them is another Georgian appetizer. Spinach pkhali , which I’ll tell you about a little later 😉 Eggplant dishes (rolls in particular) go perfectly with New Year's table! And I will summarize.
Brief recipe: Georgian eggplant rolls with nuts
- Wash the eggplants, cut off the caps, cut them into longitudinal strips approximately 0.5 cm thick, salt each strip and leave for 30 minutes, then thoroughly rinse off the salt with running water and wipe the eggplant strips dry with paper towels.
- At this time, peel the onion, chop it very finely and fry in a frying pan with a small amount of oil over medium heat until transparent and lightly golden, then remove from heat and set aside.
- Place a flat-bottomed frying pan over medium-high heat and fry (preferably without oil) each strip of eggplant on both sides for 1-2 minutes until deeply browned under the lid; place the finished eggplants in a separate plate.
- At this time, make the nut sauce: grind the nuts in a blender chopper, then add fried onions, peeled garlic, suneli hops, salt, pepper, coarsely chopped herbs and a little water, grind everything again until smooth (you can add a little water if consistency is too thick).
- Place the fried strip of eggplant on the palm of your hand, put 1 teaspoon of nut sauce on the edge and roll from this end into rolls with filling, place on a plate and decorate with pomegranate seeds.
- Now you know how to make Georgian eggplant rolls!
Spicy, aromatic Georgian eggplants are an excellent snack for every day. I do it myself delicious recipe instant cooking, and share my photos.
Fry the eggplants cut into pucks in oil, season with garlic, hot pepper and vinegar sauce and sprinkle with parsley or cilantro. When soaked in the sauce, the eggplants become juicy, with a piquant taste and a very appetizing aroma of garlic and fresh herbs.
To prevent the eggplants from becoming bitter, before frying, sprinkle the rings with coarse table salt and leave for half an hour in a bowl or colander. Salt promotes intense release of bitter juice; eggplants will lose their bitterness, but the characteristic tart taste will remain. There is no point in peeling the skin - the bitterness will only partially go away, and the eggplants will fall apart during frying.
Ingredients:
- eggplants – 2 pcs;
- coarse table salt – 1 tsp;
- garlic – 3-4 large cloves;
- hot capsicum – 1/3 pod;
- vegetable oil – for frying eggplants + 1 tbsp. l. for the sauce;
- table vinegar 9% - 1 tbsp. l;
- parsley or cilantro - 0.5 bunch.
How to cook eggplants in Georgian style
Without peeling, cut the eggplants into rounds about 2 cm thick. You should not cut them very thin, as when frying the circles will become thinner and may fall apart.
Sprinkle the eggplants with salt and mix with your hands. Leave for 20-30 minutes so that the bitter juice goes away along with the salt. Then rinse with cold water and dry with a paper towel or napkin.
Place the eggplants in portions in well-heated oil, leaving space between the circles.
Fry for 2-3 minutes on each side until a brownish-golden crust forms. If the eggplants have accumulated a lot of oil, place them on a paper napkin to remove excess fat.
While the eggplants are frying, prepare the spicy sauce. Finely chop part of the hot pepper pod, cutting out the seeds. Three garlic cloves through a fine grater or cut into small strips.
Add a spoonful of oil, add salt to taste, and add vinegar. Whisk all the ingredients of the sauce vigorously with a fork until thickened.
Lay out the fried eggplants in layers, coating each circle with garlic-pepper sauce and sprinkling with herbs.
Let the prepared snack sit in the refrigerator for one to two hours. Be sure to cover with a lid to preserve the garlic aroma and freshness of the herbs. Serve the spicy eggplants chilled. Bon appetit!
Georgia is an amazing country with very original cuisine. Khinkali, khachapuri, cherry plum tkemali, and kharcho soup are very popular. Traditional Georgian recipe is pickled eggplant (popularly blue, blue), they are often made for the winter. Sometimes vegetables are fried, baked, or marinated. If desired, add nuts to the dish (it turns out delicious with walnuts), herbs, spices. Be sure to try the recipes below. This will allow you to get cooking masterpiece, which will cause a storm of positive emotions among friends and family.
How to cook eggplants in Georgian style
Make sure you choose the right products in advance. Remember that blue ones do not store well, so it is recommended to start processing vegetables immediately after harvesting. If you buy groceries, pay attention to the fruits. Ideally they should shine. It is advisable that the stalk is not dry (it is green in a fresh fruit). Medium to large sized, dense, dark-skinned vegetables are suitable for preparations.
If you plan to preserve snacks, then choose jars with no chips or cracks. They should be washed with a soda solution and then rinsed thoroughly with clean water. Next, the jars are sterilized (use an oven, microwave, double boiler, or a container of boiling water). Vegetables are cut into circles, cubes or strips, and boiled if necessary. The marinade is being prepared. Subsequently, it is poured over vegetables, previously placed in jars.
Georgian eggplant recipes
There are ways to create a dish without preserving it. Vegetables, nuts, spices, herbs, salt, sugar are mixed and left for a day. For preservation, chopped vegetables are placed in layers in a cooking vessel, everything is sprinkled with salt, sugar, vinegar, and vegetable oil (to make it tasty, add peppercorns). The mixture is set to cook. It is recommended to process vegetables for about 40 minutes. After this, the snack is placed in jars and covered with lids. It is worth storing the workpiece in a cool place (a cellar or refrigerator is suitable).
For the winter
- Number of servings: 5-8 persons.
- Calorie content of the dish (per 100 g): 219 kcal.
- Cuisine: Georgian.
Georgian blue ones for the winter are made from baked fruits. In this case, it is important to choose large-sized vegetables. Remember that they should not be overripe. This is necessary because the vegetables will greatly decrease in size after baking. If you use large fruits, you will get a canned snack that will contain a lot of tasty pulp.
Ingredients
- blue ones - 2-3 pcs.;
- garlic – 3 cloves;
- cilantro, parsley, lemon juice, pomegranate seeds - optional;
Cooking method
- Bake whole fruits until soft.
- Peel the vegetables and chop the pulp.
- Chop the garlic.
- Combine lemon juice, spices, salt, sugar.
- Mix all ingredients thoroughly and leave in a cool place for a day.
- Georgian eggplants can be sprinkled with pomegranate seeds and garnished with onions (use rings).
With nuts
- Preparation time: approximately 24 hours.
- Number of servings: 5 persons.
- Calorie content of the dish (per 100 g): 220 kcal.
- Purpose: lunch, afternoon snack, dinner.
- Cuisine: Georgian.
- Difficulty of preparation: easy.
IN this dish You can add cilantro, basil, green onions, parsley. These components will give the dish a unique taste and aroma. Vegetables will be enriched with vitamins and beneficial microelements. If desired, you can use chopped nuts (it will be very tasty with walnuts) and garlic. The finished appetizer is best served with meat, fish, and side dishes. Eat it hot or cold.
Ingredients
- blue ones - 2-3 pcs.;
- garlic – 3 cloves;
- 1 onion;
- walnuts – 200 g;
- vinegar - 3-4 tbsp. l.;
- cilantro, parsley, pomegranate seeds - optional;
- dried basil, suneli hops, black pepper, sugar, salt, grains - to taste.
Cooking method
- Chop the blue fruits and fry (as a rule, vegetables are fried until golden brown).
- Chop the garlic and onion.
- Grind the nuts (use a mortar, blender, meat grinder).
- Mix vinegar, spices, herbs, salt, sugar.
- Mix all the listed products thoroughly and place in a cool place (cellar, refrigerator) for a day.
- It is recommended to sprinkle Georgian eggplants with pomegranate seeds, cilantro, and parsley leaves.
With feta cheese
- Number of servings: 5 persons.
- Calorie content of the dish (per 100 g): 202 kcal.
- Purpose: lunch, afternoon snack, dinner.
- Cuisine: Georgian.
Nuts, cheese, blueberries - these products can easily be found on the shelves of modern stores. These ingredients help you get gourmet snack that will decorate your table. The dish is prepared very simply. Do it for a holiday or on an ordinary day. Dinner with cheese and blue cheese will be unforgettable and bright. Subsequently, the snack can be stored for a short time in the refrigerator.
Ingredients
- eggplants – 3-4 pcs.;
- garlic – 2-3 cloves;
- vegetable oil - for frying;
- sour cream – 2 tbsp. l.;
- feta cheese – 200 g;
- fresh tomato – for decoration;
- black pepper - to taste.
Cooking method
- Cut the blue ones into slices, add salt and leave for 30 minutes. Next, wash the vegetables, dry them, fry until golden brown crust(to drain the butter, place the slices on a paper towel).
- Combine crushed cheese, sour cream, chopped garlic, herbs, pepper.
- Place the blue fruits on a plate, place 1 tbsp on each “circle”. l. prepared cheese mixture. Top with tomato slices and parsley.
Pickled eggplants
- Preparation time: approximately 2 hours (after a week the appetizer will be ready).
- Number of servings: 17 persons.
- Calorie content of the dish (per 100 g): 195 kcal.
- Purpose: lunch, afternoon snack, dinner.
- Cuisine: Georgian.
- Difficulty of preparation: medium.
If you are interested in how to cook healthy dish, then pay attention to the recipe below. Despite the fact that the vegetables in this case undergo special processing, they retain many useful substances, microelements. By consuming fermented foods, you will enrich your body with calcium, potassium, phosphorus, and vitamin C. The appetizer can be consumed some time after preparation (you need to wait until the ingredients are soaked in vinegar and salt).
Ingredients
- eggplants – 17 pcs.;
- garlic – 5-7 cloves;
- carrots – 400 g;
- water – 3 l;
- salt – 3 tbsp. l.;
- sugar – 1 tbsp. l.;
- vinegar (9%) – 1 tbsp. l.;
- black pepper – ¼ tsp.
Cooking method
- Peel the blue ones, cut them lengthwise into about ¾, and boil in lightly salted water for about 5 minutes.
- Place the processed vegetables under pressure for 1 hour (you can place the fruits in a bowl with holes, cover with a plate, and place a pan of water on top).
- Grate the carrots, add chopped garlic, pepper, and herbs.
- Prepare the brine: add vinegar and salt to boiling water.
- Place the carrot filling in the blue ones (in the slits). Place the vegetables in a saucepan and cover with brine.
- The appetizer should be kept warm for about 4 days, in the cold for 3 days.
Spicy eggplant
- Cooking time: approximately 2 hours.
- Number of servings: 5 people.
- Purpose: lunch, afternoon snack, dinner.
- Cuisine: Georgian.
- Difficulty of preparation: easy.
If you like to pamper your friends and family with something spicy, then this recipe will be a real find for you. You can use this method of creating savory vegetables in case of unexpectedly arriving guests. Feel free to decorate with this appetizer. festive table or complement it with a family lunch or dinner. Read on to learn how to prepare this delicious dish.
Ingredients
- eggplants – 3-4 pcs.;
- garlic – 3 cloves;
- vegetable oil – 25 g;
- salt - optional;
- vinegar (9%) – 25 g;
- greens (cilantro, dill, celery, parsley) - optional;
- hot peppers–1/4 pcs.
Cooking method
- Peel the blue ones, cut into slices, add salt and mix. Leave for 30 minutes
- Place vegetables on a napkin. When the water has drained, fry the “circles” until golden brown. Place them on a napkin to absorb excess oil.
- Chop garlic and hot pepper. Mix the ingredients. Add salt, vinegar, vegetable oil.
- Layer the vegetables in the pan. Sprinkle each layer with chopped parsley and pour over the garlic mixture.
- Close the container with a lid and place in a dark, cool place for 2 hours.
Stuffed eggplants
- Calorie content of the dish (per 100 g): 225 kcal.
- Cuisine: Georgian.
- Difficulty of preparation: easy.
Georgian stuffed eggplants are suitable for those who do not want to spend a lot of time cooking and want to get a unique, beautiful dish. For it you will need ingredients that can be found in almost every store (you may find many at home). While creating original snack you will not need to perform any complex manipulations, everything is extremely simple and clear.
Ingredients
- eggplants – 1 kg;
- minced meat – 500 g;
- 2 onions;
- bell pepper – 2 pcs.;
- tomato paste – 2 tbsp. l.;
- salt, black pepper, herbs (cilantro, dill, celery, parsley) - optional;
Cooking method
- Peel the blue peppers. Fry in a frying pan until soft.
- Separately, fry the chopped onion and minced meat (about 15 minutes). Add salt and pepper.
- Fry the second onion separately. Add tomato paste and herbs.
- Cut the fried eggplants lengthwise (you should get a pocket). Place minced meat and onions into the vegetables (you can add nut filling).
- Place the blue fruits and peppers in a baking dish, pour over the sauce (you can add nut sauce). Place everything in a preheated oven for 20 minutes.
Buglama
- Cooking time: approximately two and a half hours.
- Number of servings: 5-7 people.
- Calorie content of the dish (per 100 g): 256 kcal.
- Purpose: breakfast, lunch, afternoon snack, dinner.
- Cuisine: Georgian.
- Difficulty of preparation: medium.
This Georgian eggplant dish is found in Azerbaijani, Armenian cuisines(there are many spectacular photos with recipes). The process of creating it is relatively simple. You won't need to stand over any mixture and constantly stir it. All that is required is to chop some products, put them in a special container and put them on fire. While the ingredients are stewing, you can do some business.
Ingredients
- eggplants – 4-5 pcs.;
- potatoes – 4-5 pcs.;
- poultry, pork, lamb – 700 g;
- garlic – 3 cloves;
- 2 onions;
- fresh tomatoes- 2 pcs.;
- 1 carrot;
- 1 hot pepper;
- bell pepper – 2-3 pcs.;
- tomato paste – 2 tbsp. l.;
- salt, spices - optional;
Cooking method
- Place the meat cut into pieces, potato wedges, and onion half rings into the cauldron. Next, distribute the blue circles. Add some salt.
- The second layer is half an onion ring, tomato slices, grated carrots, chopped bell pepper.
- Pour 2 tbsp into the cauldron. water. Place the container on the fire. Bring the contents to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for about 2 hours.
- 8 minutes before the end of cooking, add spices and hot pepper to the dish.
- Cooking time: approximately one and a half hours.
- Number of servings: 5-7 people.
- Calorie content of the dish (per 100 g): approximately 196 kcal.
- Purpose: lunch, afternoon snack, dinner.
- Cuisine: Georgian.
- Difficulty of preparation: medium.
About how to cook Georgian stew (there are many different photos with an interesting design of the dish), you will learn in this recipe. The dish is otherwise called “ajapsandal”. This word implies a mixture of a large number of components. There is a similar definition in Russian - “vinaigrette”. To create a stew, ingredients such as carrots, green beans, potatoes, onions, and tomatoes can be used. The main products are blue ones. As a rule, half of the mixture (stew) consists of them.
Ingredients
- eggplants – 1 kg;
- potatoes – 4-5 pcs.;
- green beans – 250 g;
- fresh tomatoes – 4-5 pcs.;
- carrots – 2-4 pcs.;
- 2 onions;
- 1 hot pepper;
- bell pepper – 500 g;
- hot pepper – 1 pc.;
- garlic – 4 cloves;
- salt, spices (saffron, coriander), herbs (basil, parsley), bay leaf - optional;
Cooking method
- Cut the blue fruits into slices and fry.
- Chop the onion, bell pepper, and grate the carrots. Fry everything for 10 minutes. Add the mixture to the blue ones.
- Bean pods should be broken and boiled in water until half cooked.
- Remove the skin from the tomatoes and chop the pulp. Add herbs, chopped garlic, and hot pepper to the tomatoes.
- Combine all prepared mixtures in a cauldron. Add bay leaf, salt, spices. Simmer for about 15 minutes.
Satsivi
- Cooking time: approximately 40 minutes.
- Number of servings: 5-7 people.
- Calorie content of the dish (per 100 g): 257 kcal.
- Purpose: lunch, afternoon snack, dinner.
- Cuisine: Georgian.
- Difficulty of preparation: medium.
Satsivi is a national Georgian dish (see the uniqueness of the dish from its photo). It is prepared from meat, fish or poultry. Vegetables can be used. In this case, the blue ones are used. This recipe will be appreciated by vegetarians because it does not contain meat or animal fat. Thanks to the unique cooking technique, satsivi turns out to be very aromatic and healthy. The beneficial elements contained in vegetables will help you maintain strength throughout the day.
Ingredients
- eggplants – 500 g;
- walnuts – 300 g;
- garlic – 4 cloves;
- 2 onions;
- wine vinegar – 1 tsp;
- vegetable oil – 7 tbsp. l.;
- parsley, cilantro, suneli hops, ground red pepper, saffron, salt - to taste
Cooking method
- Cut the blue fruits lengthwise into strips (the thickness should be 1 cm), add salt, and leave for 30 minutes. Fry the vegetables until golden brown, place on napkins to drain the oil.
- Chop and mix nuts, garlic, onions. Add chopped herbs and spices. Mix everything, add vinegar (can be replaced with pomegranate juice).
- Next, place the blue fruits on a plate and spread the paste on top of the “strips.” Vegetables can be rolled up.
- Place the vegetables in a saucepan and leave for 2 hours.
Video
Eggplants occupy a special place in Georgian cuisine. Hot dishes and cold salads are prepared from the fleshy purple vegetable, it is stuffed and baked on the grill, seasoned with hot spices, nuts, cheese, and served with meat and mushrooms. Today in our kitchen - Georgian eggplants - moderately spicy, savory snack, which is often used as a winter preparation. Variations on the eggplant theme with a Georgian accent are in our article.
What do they eat eggplants with in the Caucasus?
Nuts and garlic are favorite Georgian seasonings, integral ingredients of traditional sauces, without which it is impossible to imagine national cuisine. They season meat, soups, and vegetables. Eggplants are no exception. They also love herbs and spices, moderately hot and aromatic.
To prepare Georgian eggplants, in addition to the blue ones, you will almost certainly need following products, “wandering” from recipe to recipe:
- garlic, onion;
- pepper – sweet and definitely chili;
- tomatoes;
- from spices – coriander, saffron, a mixture of peppers;
- from greens - cilantro, basil, parsley;
The traditional taste of Georgian dishes is sour-sweet-spicy, so wine vinegar, pomegranate juice, and lemon are often used to season dishes. Eggplants go well with traditional Georgian sauces– satsivi, bazhi, based on walnuts.
Having the above-mentioned products in your kitchen, you can safely prepare eggplants in Georgian style, including preparations for the winter.
Cold snacks
Let's start our excursion into the intricacies of cooking with appetizers, without which not a single feast of the hospitable highlanders is complete. The most popular eggplant salad is ajapsandali. It’s like lecho for Hungarians or Bulgarians - there is one recipe, but there are countless variations.
Classic ajapsandali
It is customary to prepare this salad for future use, since it must be thoroughly brewed before serving. It can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks; over time it becomes even tastier.
Eggplants for ajapsandali need to be young, long and smooth, with smooth purple skin. When cut, the seeds should be white, barely noticeable, the flesh should be tender, elastic, without defects. For 2 kg of these beauties, we make up a company of the following products:
- sweet pepper, preferably not green and fleshy (4 pcs.);
- tomatoes (1.5–2 kg);
- garlic (5 large cloves);
- onions (1 kg);
- greens (cilantro, dill, parsley, basil) - 1 generous bunch of each type;
- salt and oil for frying eggplants.
Preparation begins with blue ones, which are washed, peeled and cut into longitudinal plates (tongues). Thickness – 0.8–1 cm. To remove bitterness and excess juice, vegetables are generously salted and set aside for 30–40 minutes. Then they are washed and squeezed. To avoid shooting in the frying pan, remove the remaining moisture with a paper towel. While the blue ones are releasing their juice, prepare a dressing from the remaining vegetables. Finely chopped onions are sautéed. Peppers and tomatoes cut into pieces and garlic pressed through a press are sent to it. Stew vegetables for 10 minutes, salt to taste, sweeten if necessary. Add chopped greens to the prepared vegetable mixture.
The eggplants are fried on both sides, the excess oil is allowed to drain off and added to the vegetable dressing. Tomatoes provide acid, so vinegar is not used in classic ajapsandali. But this is a matter of taste. In order for the little blue ones to be saturated with the dressing, it will take from several hours to a day. At this time, the dish is sent to the refrigerator.
With walnuts
Eggplants with walnuts are a classic Georgian vegetable preparation. For 1 kg (5-6 pieces) of blue ones it takes:
- walnuts (kernels) – 150 g;
- garlic – 4–5 cloves;
- a bunch of cilantro;
- spices – saffron, suneli hops, coriander seeds;
- salt and vinegar are added to taste.
The eggplants in this dish are wrapped in rolls, which determines how the vegetable is cut into long thin slices (0.5–0.8 cm). The technology for preparing the plates for frying is the same as in the previous recipe. To remove excess oil from roasted vegetables, place them on a paper towel.
To prepare the filling, pass the nuts through a meat grinder with a fine sieve, beat the garlic with a small amount of oil (for binding) in a blender, and finely chop the cilantro. The products are combined and mixed to a paste-like state, seasoned with spices, vinegar, and salt.
The cooled eggplant slices are spread with nut paste and rolled up. The appetizer is ready.
With garlic and herbs
This version of Georgian eggplant is more everyday than festive; it is prepared from what is always on hand, at least in the Caucasus.
These will be vegetable rolls with a very simple but flavorful filling. To prepare it, based on 1 kg of blue ones, you will need:
- young garlic (this is important, it is not so “evil”) - 3 heads;
- a bunch of cilantro;
- a bunch of parsley;
- mixture of peppers, salt, oil.
Garlic and herbs with a small amount (50–60 ml) olive oil, salt and spices, beat in a blender until paste-like. Fried tongues are prepared from eggplants. We will not repeat how to prepare and fry a vegetable, since in previous recipes enough has been said about this. All that remains is to spread the aromatic filling on the vegetable slices.
Let's reveal the secret of how to prevent eggplants from being over-saturated with oil when frying. Before adding to the frying pan, the vegetable slices are greased with a small amount of vegetable oil. The frying pan remains dry. As a result, the flesh is not so much fried as baked.
Georgian eggplants for the winter
To stock up on eggplants for the winter, recipes for cooking vegetables in Georgian style in a spicy sauce are more suitable sweet and sour sauce. They almost always use acid, which acts as a reliable preservative. This can be vinegar, including wine, pomegranate juice, lemon juice. In Russian interpretation, such salads are often called “Ogonyok”.
In a spicy dressing
Spicy snacks are eaten very well in winter, so you can cook them without fear. The amount of ingredients in the recipe is calculated for 5 kg of blue ones. Namely:
- sweet pepper (red or yellow, fleshy) – 10 pieces;
- chili pepper – 1–2 pieces;
- peeled garlic - half a glass on your finger;
- vinegar – 200 ml.
Grind all components in a food processor, salt to taste, and add vinegar. The sweetness in the sauce comes from the bell pepper, but you can add a little sugar. Since the preservation will have to be sterilized, the dressing does not need to be boiled.
Eggplants are cut into circles or slices. In the first case, they will be dipped in dressing, in the second, they will be spread and rolled up. Before cooking, the bitterness is removed from the vegetable - in a dry way (salt, let it drain) or soaked for half an hour in salt water. The blue ones are fried or baked in the oven.
The circles (rolls) are placed in jars, generously sandwiched with filling so that there are no voids. If the dressing has been boiled, half-liter jars are sterilized for 10–15 minutes, if not, half an hour.
With chili, tomatoes and garlic
If you use tomatoes and a little more vinegar and hot pepper in the dressing (all these are natural preservatives), you can prepare Georgian eggplants for the winter, but without sterilization. We offer a recipe for your culinary piggy bank based on 4 kg of blue ones. Besides them, we take:
- bell pepper – 1 kg;
- ripe fleshy (not watery) tomatoes – 2 kg;
- chili – 4 peppercorns;
- peeled garlic - 4 large heads;
- vinegar – 200 ml;
- sugar – 125 ml (half a glass);
- butter in sauce – 125 ml;
- salt, oil for frying vegetables.
Eggplants cut into slices and freed from bitterness can be prepared in one of the following ways - fry in a frying pan or bake in the oven. We recommend not peeling the skin, it looks more beautiful in a jar and the pulp doesn’t fall apart.
A sweet, sour and hot sauce is prepared from the remaining ingredients. Grind tomatoes, both types of peppers and garlic or beat them in a blender to a paste. Oil is poured here, salt and sugar are added, and then sent to the fire. The mass needs to be boiled well, especially if the tomatoes were not dense and meaty enough. Vinegar is poured in at the very end.
After this, the eggplants are placed in clean, baked jars, sandwiched with pepper and tomato dressing, and rolled up with sterile lids.
The second, and in our opinion more reliable, option is to additionally boil the blue ones. To do this, the fried circles are dipped in a boiling dressing, vinegar is poured in, and the whole thing is simmered for 5-7 minutes. And after that they roll it up.
As you can see, preparing eggplants in Georgian style is not at all difficult. Moreover, many of these recipes are familiar to us from childhood, and we are even accustomed to consider them our own, Russian.
Video on how to cook spicy eggplant for the winter:
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