Red Tkemali
Red Tkemali - kvalifood.com
Red tkemali is a Georgian sour plum sauce made from ripe red plums in late summer. It is tart, garlicky, and spiced with anise, used as a condiment for grilled meat, potatoes, and bread. The traditional plum is the cherry plum (Prunus cerasifera), which is very sour compared to Western varieties.
Makes ca. 800 ml
Ingredients
- 1 kg ripe red sour plums
- 300 ml water
- 100 g garlic, peeled and finely minced
- 20 g salt
- 5 g anise, whole or ground
- 2 g fresh spearmint leaves (or pennyroyal), finely chopped
- 20 g fresh cilantro, finely chopped
- 10 g dried coriander (or 10 g additional fresh cilantro)
- 5 g dried hot red pepper flakes
- 10 g sugar (optional)
Directions
- Place the plums in a deep pot with 300 ml water. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer for 10-15 minutes until soft.
- Remove the plums with a slotted spoon. Reserve the cooking water.
- Press the plums through a fine-mesh sieve into a clean pot, using reserved water to help push the pulp through. Discard stones and skins.
- Combine the garlic, spearmint, fresh cilantro, and salt in a small bowl.
- Add the garlic-herb mixture, dried pepper flakes, and anise to the plum puree. Stir well.
- Heat over very low heat for 40 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Taste and add sugar if needed. Add dried coriander if using.
- For short-term storage, cool and refrigerate. For long-term storage, ladle hot into sterilized jars and seal immediately.
Notes
- Georgian cherry plums are very sour. If using sweeter Western plums (Santa Rosa, greengage), add 1-2 tbsp lemon juice to compensate.
- Spearmint is the safest substitute for the traditional pennyroyal, which has liver toxicity risks.
- The red variant uses about 5 times more garlic than the green – this is intentional.
- Anise is specific to the red variant and should not be added to green tkemali.
- Refrigerated, the sauce keeps 2-3 weeks. In sterilized jars, it stores for months.
See Also
October 30, 2018
Green Tkemali
Green Tkemali - kvalifood.com
Green tkemali is a Georgian sour plum sauce made from unripe plums in spring. It is tart, …
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