8 best classic recipes for making adjika for the winter
Adjika is one of the most popular spices that came to us from the Caucasus. Most often it looks like a red paste. The main advantage is a bright, rich taste with sharp notes, which goes well with various dishes. There are many ways to make a delicious condiment. Among them, the classic adzhika recipe stands out, which also has its own varieties.
Basic principles of cooking adjika
Despite the variety of recipes, there are several characteristics that all types of seasoning have in common:
- Adjika is based on garlic, red pepper and salt.
- It is allowed to reduce the pungency with apples and bell peppers.
- If you want to preserve nutrients, use recipes without boiling.
- Cooking increases the shelf life of the workpiece for the winter.
- For cooking, use iron or enamel pans.
- Cook with gloves to keep hot peppers out of your eyes.
Adjika goes well with various dishes, especially meat, and it is also low in calories. But because of the pungency, you cannot eat much, this can negatively affect the stomach.
Preparation of basic ingredients and storage containers
The taste of ready-made adjika also depends on the correctly selected and processed ingredients:
- Choose ripe peppers for extra spice.
- Tomatoes should be meaty and ripe.
- Dry pepper seeds increase the spiciness, soft ones reduce it.
- Toast herbs and seeds, then essential oils will give a pleasant aroma.
- Boil tomatoes with a lot of juice first, then the adjika will not be too liquid. For the same purpose, dry the peppers for 1-2 days.
Seasoning jars should be free of cracks or rust on the lids. They are washed, sterilized on the stove or in the oven. All devices are also disinfected with boiling water.
Cooking methods
Adjika recipes differ in ingredients and processing, as well as in complexity of preparation.
Classic adjika without cooking for the winter
This is the easiest and quickest recipe to prepare. You only need the basic ingredients raw:
- 1 kilogram of sweet pepper;
- 1.5 kilograms of garlic;
- 3 kilograms of tomatoes;
- 150 grams of hot pepper;
- salt, sugar - for the master's taste.
Remove the stalks from the sweet pepper, chop, peel the garlic. Chop all ingredients in a blender, then mix, add salt or sugar. Let it stand overnight, then you can roll it into banks.
Cossack adjika
Another classic recipe, but more spicy due to the pepper seeds, which must be left. You will need:
- 1 kilogram of tomatoes;
- the same amount of hot pepper;
- garlic (3 pieces).
Prepare this way:
- Chop the vegetables with a blender.
- Pass the garlic through a garlic press.
- Bring the tomatoes to a boil.
- Then add the rest of the ingredients, mix.
- Cook for another ten minutes.
After that, adjika can be laid out in jars and wrapped in a cloth until it cools down.
Caucasian adjika
The dish according to this recipe is different from others and comes out very spicy. The ingredients are as follows:
- a little more than a kilogram of tomato;
- 2 kilograms of hot pepper;
- about 3 kilograms of garlic.
The seeds are not removed, it is dried along with the garlic. Vegetables are chopped in a blender, then they must be left for 7 days for fermentation in an enamel or glass container, covered with gauze. Remove the paste that has risen during this time, draining the excess liquid, add salt, oil. Such adjika is stored in banks for a long time.
Georgian adjika
This dish tastes good thanks to the mixture of vegetables and spices:
- a kilogram of hot pepper;
- 1.5 kilograms of garlic;
- 3/4 cup salt
- 0.5 cups of a mixture of coriander, dill seeds and suneli hops;
- paprika.
Preparing the Georgian version is very simple:
- Chop vegetables and spices.
- Stir the ingredients, add salt.
- Other seasonings can be added.
Abkhaz adjika
For this option, take the following ingredients:
- bulb;
- garlic (2 pieces);
- cilantro;
- basil;
- 150 grams of walnuts;
- Chile;
- hops-suneli;
- salt.
Finely chop the onion, garlic, basil and cilantro. Chop the walnuts and season. Then all the ingredients are mixed. If the mixture comes out dry, add water.
With horseradish
You will need the following ingredients:
- 2 kilograms of tomato;
- a kilogram of bell pepper;
- fresh horseradish root;
- ground pepper;
- a glass of 9% vinegar;
- the same amount of salt.
Chop the vegetables, add black pepper, followed by chopped horseradish, salt and vinegar. Stir, cover with foil, drain the liquid after a few hours.
Spicy adjika
This option is less spicy due to the following set of ingredients:
- 3 kilograms of tomato;
- 10 pieces of bell pepper;
- a kilogram of carrots;
- a glass of quality olive oil;
- 150 milliliters of vinegar;
- the same grams of sugar;
- 30 grams of salt;
- 12 green apples.
Pass all vegetables and apples through a meat grinder, then bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce heat, cook, stirring occasionally, for 50 minutes, add the remaining ingredients and hold for another 10 minutes.
With carrots and onions
Another simple recipe. Ingredients:
- half a kilo of sweet pepper;
- the same amount of carrots;
- 2.5 kilograms of tomato;
- 3 hot peppers;
- 0.3 kilograms of onions
- Glass of salt
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 250 milliliters of vegetable oil.
Chop and chop all ingredients in a blender, grate the onion. Stir and keep on fire for half an hour. Add salt, sugar, simmer over low heat for an hour or 2.5 hours (for preservation). Also add vinegar for storage.
How and how much can you store
Adjika needs to be kept cold, especially if it is made with raw vegetables. However, in cans hermetically sealed with tin lids, it does not deteriorate even at room temperature.
Under these conditions, the dish retains its quality throughout the winter.
