Red Tkemali

October 30, 2018

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.