3 best recipes for making Serbian aivar for the winter
Any housewife can cook ayvar using a Serbian recipe for the winter. This is a dish related to Balkan cuisine. Aivar is a sauce that can be used as an addition to main dishes, as a gravy, and also as a spread for sandwiches. In Serbia and Croatia, this sauce is considered a national dish, however, there is no canonical recipe. Each family cooks the sauce according to its own recipe. You can change the thickness of the sauce to taste.
Cooking nuances
Ajvar sauce can be prepared according to different recipes, depending on taste preferences. The classic dish contains red peppers, chili, garlic, but you can add tomatoes or eggplant.
According to the traditional recipe, peppers are baked until a black crust appears on their surface - this is important. After removing the peppers from the oven, let them cool. Only if this rule is followed will ayvar turn out to be truly tasty.
Selection and preparation of main ingredients
To prepare a classic dish, you will need the following ingredients:
- pepper of any color, but preferably red - 3 kg;
- garlic - 10 cloves;
- two onions;
- chili - 1 piece;
- sunflower oil - 250 ml;
- apple cider vinegar - 100 ml;
- salt - optional;
- sugar - 1 tbsp. l.
Food should be fresh, but if there are spoiled spots on the pepper, it is easy to cut them off before baking in the oven.
How to choose the right one
Particular attention is paid to vegetable oil. You can use oil to taste: sunflower, olive, sesame, walnut oil, corn oil. The traditional recipe says sunflower or olive. Depending on which oil is used, the taste of the dish can change and acquire unusual notes.
There are no special requirements for the choice of products. The main thing is that the peppers, tomatoes and eggplants are fresh, without mold.
How to cook ajvar for the winter
The process of making aivar is quite simple and any housewife can handle it. The main stage is the preparation of peppers. They are baked in the oven and then cooled before being ground and mixed with other ingredients.
To make ayvar even tastier, you can use the grill for baking. The finished dish is packed in jars and sent to the refrigerator for storage.
The classic Serbian aivar recipe
Cooking process:
- Rinse the peppers, put them on a baking sheet and bake at 200 degrees until the surface darkens. Then the peppers are put into a bag and steamed so that the skin can be removed. The seeds are also taken out.
- Cut the onion into small rings and fry in vegetable oil until golden brown.
- All ingredients: peppers, onions, garlic, mince. Then the mass must be transferred to a cauldron. Oil, salt, sugar are added.
- The sauce is boiled until boiling and tasted. If necessary, add lemon juice, salt, and boil the mixture for another 10 minutes.
The hot sauce is poured into pre-sterilized jars. Then they are covered with lids and kept under a blanket until they cool completely.
Option with tomatoes
To prepare aivar with tomatoes, you will need the following ingredients:
- sweet pepper - 1 kg;
- garlic - 1 head;
- tomatoes - 500 gr.;
- onions - 2 pcs.;
- bite 9% - 20 ml;
- sunflower oil - 55 ml;
- salt to taste;
- sugar - 95 g
Cooking practically does not differ from the traditional method:
- Wash the peppers and bake in the oven or grill until a black crust appears.
- Put the peppers in a bag for half an hour, and then peel them. You also need to cut off the stalk and remove the seeds.
- Peeled peppers, tomato pulp, garlic, onions are passed through a meat grinder. Put the entire mixture in a saucepan and put on fire. Chili can be added for spice.
- During the boiling process, add salt, sugar and vinegar. The mass needs to be boiled for 5 minutes, and then poured into jars.
After the ajvar is cooked, it is poured into jars and closed with ordinary lids. Then you need to cool them and put them in the refrigerator.
Eggplant recipe
Eggplant can be used to give the sauce an unusual and rich flavor. This dish requires the following ingredients:
- sweet pepper, red - 2 kg;
- eggplant - 1 kg;
- two onion heads;
- chili - 1 piece;
- garlic - 5 cloves;
- sugar - 1 teaspoon;
- salt - optional;
- sunflower oil - 200 ml;
- apple cider vinegar - 4 tbsp spoons.
Cooking process:
- Bake peppers and eggplants in the oven at 200 degrees for 30 minutes. Dark marks should appear.
- Peel vegetables and peel. The core is removed in the pepper.
- Add 1 chilli for moderate pungency.
- Pass the whole mass through a meat grinder, fry onion and garlic in a pan.
- The mixture is placed in a cauldron. You need to reassure her so that all the liquid comes out. Properly prepared ayvar has a thick consistency.
The workpiece must be poured into banks and cooled.
Storage rules
Ready-made aivar is closed in jars and stored in a cool, dark place for several months. Can be stored on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator. After opening the can, the sauce must be consumed within 3-4 days.
The advantage of aivar is that it is a completely versatile dish that can be used as a sauce, a delicious gravy for meat, or a spread for bread.
