Georgian cuisine is famous for its spicy dishes, with bouquets of herbs and hot spices perfectly matched in the recipes. But everyone is used to the fact that Georgian cuisine, first of all, is meat in all its manifestations. However, there is a recipe for a dish that can turn all ideas and patterns around - ajapsandal.

What is "ajapsandal"

This dish has a lot of names (pictured) - ajapsandali, ajabsandal or just sandalwood. Vegetarian dish, which is easy to prepare, from stewed vegetables, with spices and herbs. This is a very tasty dish, with a simple recipe, which has collected the main flavors of Georgian cuisine. It mixed - the charm of summer juicy vegetables and a pleasant almost real mushroom flavor of eggplant.

You can even call the traditional ajapsandal - Georgian vegetable sauté, stew, stewed vegetables. Only all vegetables are cut into larger pieces, baked with spices and herbs.

There is a legend that they invented a real ajapsandali - a Georgian dish, shepherds high in the mountains - they first singeed paprika and eggplant on a fire. And then these vegetables were mashed into a puree, mixed with herbs and hot spices. Such a paste or ajap puree was stored for quite a long time and the shepherds could dine right on the go, while moving with the herds.

Perhaps this is true, or maybe just a beautiful legend. But in the end, almost all Caucasian peoples have been using this recipe for many years, hundreds of years. Each family has its own recipe, handed down from the elders to the younger ones. Recipes also vary from region to region. But one thing remains fundamental - in every recipe there must be baked eggplant and paprika (Bulgarian sweet pepper).

In Georgia, they rarely put meat in ajapsandal, in Armenia, meat is a must. There are recipes where vegetables and meat must be boiled. But consider the classic Georgian recipe. Vegetarian, very useful due to the peculiarities of food processing, in which vegetables do not lose their beneficial qualities. Because stewed vegetables are processed on fire for a minimum amount of time. Due to this, vitamins are practically not lost.

In what cases and how sandalwood is served

The dish happens as a side dish for meat, something like a stew. And there is a separate dish, preparation for the winter like vegetable caviar. But most often it is a very thick vegetable soup. The dish is self-sufficient and light at the same time. Ajapsandali recipe - easy and simple to learn how to cook a dish even in field conditions.

Any hostess who knows how to cook can take a simple recipe as a basis. It does not have any features or difficulties. Moreover, the whole recipe lends itself very easily to small changes in composition, without compromising the taste. So it is not difficult to cook the most common dish of Georgian cuisine.

It is enough to cook a step-by-step recipe once, so that later you can constantly pamper your loved ones with an exquisite national dish of Georgian cuisine.

Georgian classic ajapsandal recipe

Ingredients required:

• Eggplant - 2 pcs. medium;
• Bulgarian pepper - 4 pcs. (preferably different colors);
• Tomatoes - 3-4 pcs. medium;
• Onions - 2 pieces (medium);
• Green cilantro - 1 bunch;
• Garlic - 4 cloves;
• Hot pepper - 1 pc.;
• Salt - 1 s. l.;
• Ground coriander - 1 tsp;
• Suneli hops - 1 tsp ;
• Vegetable oil - 2/3 cup (about 180-190 grams).

Cooking sequence

It is worth observing all the stages of cooking. But with experience, you can add some of your ingredients or something else. This dish is plastic - it is impossible to spoil it.

1. Vegetables need to be prepared. Wash the eggplants thoroughly, then cut them lengthwise into strips about 1 cm thick. Cut along with the skin. Mix chopped eggplants with salt in a deep bowl and let stand for 10-25 minutes. During this time, the eggplant will release the juice along with bitterness.
2. While the eggplants are standing, prepare other ingredients - peel the vegetables. Cut the onion into half rings.
3. Peel the Bulgarian pepper from seeds, stem films and cut into thin, long strips.
4. After that, it's time to return to the eggplants - they need to be washed under water from salt and squeezed out, not much, otherwise they will become too soft, cottony. Then straighten them and set aside again for a while - let them dry a little.
5. It's time to cook the roast. Pour 3 tbsp. tablespoons of vegetable oil, calcine it well. Fry the eggplant until golden brown on each side. Don't overcook! Just lightly brown.
6. Place the fried eggplant in a colander to drain excess oil.
7. Peel the garlic and cut into thin slices.
8. Pour vegetable oil into a heavy-bottomed pan and heat to the highest temperature. Add chopped onion - fry until golden brown.
9. Add the bell pepper and turn down the heat under the pan until halfway through, fry for about 5 minutes.
10. During this time, pour boiling water over the tomatoes, peel them from the skin. Then mash the pulp to a puree state. You can grind in a mixer or just knead with a fork, pusher. Also finely chop the cilantro.
11. In fried onions and bell peppers, add spices - ground coriander, suneli hops.
12. Put the tomato puree in the pan with the onion and bell pepper. Top with chopped garlic cloves and chopped cilantro.
13. Take the pan off the heat and start gathering the ajapsandal. Put a layer of fried eggplants in an enameled, ceramic or glass deep form. On it is a layer of overcooked vegetables with tomatoes and spices. Again a layer of eggplant and in the same way alternating layers lay everything to the end. The top layer must be from overcooked vegetables and spices with tomatoes.
14. Sprinkle thickly finely chopped greens on top - cilantro or whatever you like. Let it brew for 30 minutes and then serve.

The photo shows what a beautiful, mouth-watering dish came out - classic ajapsandali.

You can cook it according to another recipe - denser, with potatoes or beef, lamb meat. Just then, sliced ​​\u200b\u200bpotatoes are added to the dish, which must be fried until half cooked.

In each layer after the eggplants, lay out the potatoes, lay the eggplants and fry in the same layers. Then bake until cooked in an oven preheated to 180 degrees. This will take approximately 15 minutes. The result is a potato dish of vegetables with spices, a casserole.

In the oven, the classic recipe will acquire richness and softness. Soaked in the aroma of all herbs and spices. For a recipe with meat, you need to fry lamb or young veal, cut into small pieces. Then stew the meat separately and collect further, as described above. In some recipes, the meat can be boiled. There is also an option to bake meat and potato tubers in the oven, then mix in layers with eggplant and spices as mentioned above.

It is impossible not to fall in love with the taste of ajapsandal - this food, even cooked later, in winter, far from Georgia, can again remind you of a hot summer and a sunny country. All the aroma of Georgian spicy herbs, variety of tastes, sunshine and lightness of mountain air are all in this simple, rich dish.

Georgia is a country of bright sun, bright landscapes and bright tastes in national cuisine. A trip to the country of high mountains and sonorous songs should not be left without memorable souvenirs and simple, tasty, healthy recipes. Ajapsandal just meets all the requirements - it is beautiful and original in its simplicity. It is not difficult to prepare, it contains common products that are not uncommon in Russia even in the autumn-winter period.

But how many sharpness and memories the hostess has who will learn how to cook this dish in Georgia and continue to pamper her family at home!

Do you like juicy, healthy summer vegetables? Then a wonderful recipe for you is a very tasty ajapsandal. A fragrant dish of Armenian, Georgian cuisine, and it is also attributed to almost all cuisines of the countries of the North Caucasus. It is very similar in cooking to the familiar and beloved vegetable stew. One of the most important conditions for a delicious ajapsandal is fresh and juicy vegetables, fragrant herbs and a good mood in the kitchen. The dish belongs to snacks, it can be served cold or hot. It will be delicious in any way. I do not advise you to pass by, write down a recipe for yourself and be sure to cook it. It will be very tasty.

Ingredients:

• fresh eggplant - 5 medium pieces;
• sweet peppers - 4-5 medium pieces (it is advisable to take a different color);
• onions - 3-4 medium heads (pieces);
• potatoes - 600 grams;
• tomatoes (tomatoes) - 3 medium pieces;
• tomato paste - 1 tablespoon (can be replaced with 1 cup of grated fresh tomatoes);
• garlic - 5 cloves;
• white sand sugar - 2 teaspoons;
• a large bunch of purple basil;
• a large bunch of cilantro;
• sunflower oil for stewing;
• spices: salt, pepper - to your taste.

Very tasty ajapsandal. Step by step recipe

1. The first thing to determine is the container in which we will cook ajapsandal. Due to the large number of ingredients, it is best to take a deep frying pan, cauldron or large saucepan with a thick bottom.
2. Now it's time to move on to the vegetables. We wash all vegetables before cutting under running water.
3. We take fresh eggplant. We cut large. Transfer to a deep bowl. Sprinkle with salt and mix. We leave it in this state on the desktop for 20-30 minutes. After that, add water. We wash them well and wring them out. Then we take a towel and dry it from the water. Put in a bowl and set aside.
4. Potato tubers are peeled. We wash under water and cut in the same way as eggplants, into large pieces.
5. Following the eggplant, cut the onion into half rings. Transfer to a separate bowl.
6. A bunch of basil and cilantro wash, dry and finely chop.
7. Remove the core of the sweet pepper. Cut it into large squares. The dish will look very beautiful and even more appetizing if you choose a pepper of different colors: red, yellow, green.
8. Tomatoes need to be poured over with boiling water. After that, we remove the skin from them. Slice them the same way you cut the peppers.
9. We clean the garlic. Separate the required number of cloves and squeeze under pressure into a separate bowl.
10. We heat the pan (stewpan, cauldron). Pour in sunflower oil.
11. We shift the potatoes into well-heated oil. Stir over high heat until almost done. Then remove the potatoes with a slotted spoon in a separate container. It is best to transfer it to a colander.
12. Fry eggplant in the same oil. About 5-7 minutes.
13. Then add the onion to the eggplant. We mix.
14. When the onion becomes transparent, add the pepper. We also mix everything. At this stage, lovers of spicy dishes can add chili peppers.
15. Now we return the potatoes and add half the serving of garlic along with it. We mix.
16. Following the potatoes, add fresh tomatoes, tomato paste (or grated tomatoes), two teaspoons of sugar. Also salt and pepper to taste. Separate half of all greens and add it to the vegetables.
17. The fire continues to be at its maximum. Do not forget to stir, then nothing will burn. Sugar, in turn, will not be clearly felt, but will give its softness.
18. After that, cover with a lid and simmer over medium heat for about 5 minutes. Then remove the lid and add the remaining garlic and herbs. Mix and press down a little with a spoon or spatula. Remember that ajapsandal is stewed without water, only in its own juice. Cover again and simmer for a couple more minutes.
19. Then turn off the heat and let it brew under a covered lid from 30 minutes to 2 hours.

Serve ajapsandal warm, hot, or cold, garnishing with fresh herbs before serving. An amazingly delicious appetizer that, with its juiciness, can conquer you from the first spoon. Prepare and please yourself and loved ones. This is worth a try for everyone. An insanely healthy dish, a great solution for a summer menu. The site "Very tasty" contains a huge number of delicious and healthy recipes from vegetables. Come to the site and cook with us. We wish you bon appetit!

- a divinely delicious vegetable dish from the cuisine of the Caucasus. Adzhapsandali is a very popular dish in the Caucasus, and, probably, just as every family prepares borscht or vinaigrette in its own way, ajapsandali is also prepared differently in different places and families.

There is already a very tasty recipe on my website, but it is completely different, more like a vegetable stew, which in no way detracts from its taste and features - it has almost no oil and the vegetables are stewed in their own juice.

In ajapsandali in Georgian, all vegetables are first fried separately until soft, and then stewed all together, soaking in each other's juices and dressing.

I will say right away that I was a little worried that the dish would turn out to be fatty, but I decided not to deviate from the recipe and the result exceeded my expectations! Ajapsandali turned out to be very tasty and fragrant, it does not feel oil at all, both hot and cold, the vegetables retained their appearance and did not spread in mashed potatoes.

Perhaps the only nuance that I will change in the next cooking is to add a little more spicy spices, herbs and garlic, slightly reduce the amount of carrots and take a little more tomato. I will write my proportions in brackets so as not to spoil the original recipe.

By the way, the author of this ajapsandali recipe, Tinatin Mzhevadze, is a famous Georgian writer.

• eggplant - about 1 kg
• tomatoes - 700 grams (1 kg)
• Bulgarian pepper - 500 grams
• onion - 500 grams
• carrots - 500 grams (300 grams)
• garlic - 5 cloves (7-8)
• purple basil, parsley and cilantro - 50 grams each (I love greens and next time I will take 1.5 or 2 times more)
• ground coriander - 0.5 tsp (2/3 tsp)
• salt and freshly ground pepper - to taste
• ucho - suneli - 0.5 tsp (1 tsp)
• vegetable oil for frying

I’ll immediately write one important nuance - all vegetables must first be fried until tender and be soft. The order of frying vegetables and laying them in a pan can be any, since then we will mix them.

It is better to use 2 pans at once. First, fry the eggplant on 2, and then on one pepper, and on the other onion with carrots. Pepper, from experience, will cook faster, and in this pan we will let the greens.

1. Let's do the eggplant first. They need to be washed, cut off the stalk and cut into circles 5-7 millimeters thick. I like a little bitterness in eggplants, but if it bothers you, you can put the eggplants in a bowl, or even better in a colander, salt well, mix so that the salt is evenly distributed and leave for 30-40 minutes. Drain the released juice and rinse the eggplants from salt.
2. We heat vegetable oil in a frying pan, eggplants are very fond of oil, so do not spare it, and then we will remove the excess oil. So, fry the eggplants until cooked, transfer them to a paper towel folded in 2-3 layers, cover with a towel on top and press down with your hands so that the excess oil is absorbed into the paper towel. We put the eggplants in a saucepan in which we will cook ajapsandali.
3. Pepper is next in line. We process it as usual - wash it, remove the seeds and cut into strips about 1 centimeter thick. Fry until soft and transfer to a saucepan with eggplant.
4. Next - onions and carrots - wash and clean. We cut the onion into half rings, and cut the carrot into circles or thin slices. We shift the vegetables to a separate pan and simmer, just simmer, and do not fry in a sufficiently large amount of oil. It is important that both onions and carrots are soft. We shift them into a saucepan, and then the excess oil can be drained.
5. Rinse parsley and basil under running water and finely chop. We pass the greens in a pan for about 5 minutes and transfer to a saucepan.
6. All vegetables are ready, it remains to make dressing. We cut the washed tomatoes into several parts and transfer them to a blender, add chopped cilantro, chopped garlic, spices (utskho-suneli, ground pepper and coriander) and salt. The dressing should turn out to be quite spicy and salty, because we did not salt the rest of the vegetables and all the spiciness and salt will be distributed.
7. Whip the dressing with a blender until puree and pour it into the pan.
8. Mix everything gently, put the pan on a fire a little more than medium and simmer for about 10-15 minutes under the lid. This will be enough time for the vegetables to soak in each other's dressing and juices and retain their shape without turning into a puree.

Georgian ready. It is better to let the dish brew a little more and taste the divine taste of vegetables when ajapsandali cools to room temperature.

Ajapsandali (or ajapsandal) in Georgian is an incredibly fragrant vegetable dish with spices and herbs. It can be eaten as a hot stew, or served as a spicy cold appetizer.

Ajapsandali Products

The basis of the dish is vegetables: eggplant, tomatoes, carrots, onions, garlic and sweet peppers.

Vegetables should be ripe and juicy, as their condition directly affects the taste of the dish.

In addition to the vegetable component, greens are used - basil, parsley and cilantro.

Greens must certainly be fresh, dried will not give the desired aroma and taste

And of course, as in all Georgian dishes, spices play the first violin in the symphony of taste. Their set varies depending on the region of the country, but the classic recipe includes black pepper, saffron, coriander and ucho-suneli.

Saffron is the most expensive spice, it is also called “red gold”, but it is it that gives Georgian dishes a unique aroma and taste.

The result is a bright and very tasty dish served with fresh bread or lavash.

Fresh bread is served with the dish in order to collect the most delicious sauce with its crumb

Classic recipe from Tinatin Mzhavanadze

A little tip: try to prepare everything in advance. Wash and cut vegetables, provide free space on the desktop. In this case, the preparation of a fragrant dish will take less time and effort.

Ingredients:

• 4 tomatoes;
• 3 onions;
• 4 sweet peppers;
• 3 carrots;
• 4 eggplants;
• 6 cloves of garlic;
• 50 g of basil, cilantro and parsley;
• 1 tsp sea ​​salt;
• 1/3 tsp black pepper;
• 1/3 tsp ucho-suneli;
• 1/4 tsp ground coriander;
• a pinch of saffron;
• 5 st. l. vegetable oil.

Step by step recipe:

1. Cut eggplant into slices.

   Cut the blue ones into circles 1–1.5 cm thick

2. Sprinkle them with a pinch of salt and leave them in a bowl for 30-40 minutes to remove the bitter taste.

   Salt will draw bitterness out of vegetables and make them tender.

3. Then fry the eggplant on both sides in a frying pan with hot oil.
   

   Eggplants need to be fried until golden brown

4. Peel the sweet pepper from seeds and cut into semicircles.
   

   Peppers choose juicy and fresh, the saturation of the sauce depends on it

5. Peel the onion and chop.

   Do not cut the onion too finely, it should be noticeable in the finished dish

6. Peel the carrots and cut into thin strips.
   

   A sharp knife is required for thinly slicing carrots.

7. Now you need to fry the carrots with onions until golden.
   

   Avoid burning vegetables, otherwise ajapsandali will have an unpleasant aftertaste.

8. Chop greens.

   Try not to chop the greens too finely

9. Make cross-shaped cuts on the tomatoes and scald them with boiling water.
   

   Sliced ​​tomatoes are easier to peel

10. Cool the scalded tomatoes slightly and remove the skin.
    

    Processing with boiling water does not harm the taste of tomatoes

11. Then chop the tomatoes and place them in a blender bowl. Grind to a puree.
    

    You can cut the tomatoes arbitrarily, remembering to remove the hard core

    It is better to take fresh garlic, it will give the dish a sharp teasing aroma.

12. Garlic cloves must be ground in a mortar with a pinch of salt to a state of gruel. Then add to the pan with ajapsandali, cover with a lid, turn off the heat and let stand for 5-7 minutes.
    

    When laying out ajapsandali on plates, try to equally distribute the sauce and vegetables in each

Video: ajapsandal with potatoes

This year, a record number of sweet peppers and eggplants has grown in our country house. So I puzzled over what to make of them. Winter preservation, peppers stuffed in various ways, eggplant caviar - I tried all the recipes, and the vegetables sang and sang everything. Then I remembered about ajapsandali. A spicy, fragrant dish with a Georgian flavor was to everyone's taste. I served it with homemade bread and fresh vegetable salad. The most amazing thing is that we ate this dish at least three times a week, but no one complained about the monotony. Indeed, by varying the amount and composition of spices, each time you can place new flavor accents.

Georgian vegetable dishes can surprise you with their rich taste. The thing is that spices give the usual products a bright aroma. It is also important that in summer and autumn ajapsandali is a very affordable dish, because it does not contain expensive ingredients.

Ajapsandali- one of the most famous dishes of Caucasian cuisine, which is nothing more than stewed vegetables. Cooking it in Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan. It is interesting that in each country the dish is called somewhat differently. For example, in Uzbekistan - ajapsanda, in Azerbaijan - ajapsandal, in Georgia - ajapsandali. Each of these countries has its own characteristics of preparation and recipes for ajapsandali.

Classic ajapsandali is made from eggplant, bell peppers, onions, carrots and tomatoes. There are also ajapsandali recipes, which include meat, potatoes. With these ingredients, of course, the dish will become more satisfying and nutritious.

This kind of dish is present in Bulgarian and Turkish cuisine and is referred to as imambayaldy. Despite the wide distribution area and a large number of recipes, ajapsandali is considered a dish of Georgian cuisine. Many will say that ajapsandali is a simple vegetable sauté and they will be right in a way. But unlike it, ajapsandali, like any other dish of Georgian cuisine, is prepared with a lot of spices and spices.

Vegetables in unlike sauté are cut more coarsely, especially eggplants. Pieces (circles) must be visible in the dish. Like saute, you can cook ajapsandali for the winter. As a rule, it is preserved for the winter, like other vegetable salads using sterilization.

Ingredients:

• Eggplant - 3 pcs.,
• Tomatoes - 4-5 pcs.,
• Onions - 2 pcs.,
• Carrots - 2 pcs.,
• Bulgarian pepper - 3 pcs.,
• Basil - a small bunch
• Garlic - 3-4 cloves,
• Salt - to taste
• Sunflower oil (preferably refined)

Ajapsandali in Georgian - recipe

Stir ajapsandali. Add minced garlic and basil.

Stir the vegetables and stew ajapsandali in Georgian style for another 15 minutes. A ready-made delicious vegetable dish with oriental notes should be served sprinkled with fresh herbs, along with tortillas or freshly baked pita bread. I wonder what they serve ajapsandali in Georgian, step by step recipe which we examined, not only in hot, but also cooled down, like a cold appetizer. Enjoy your meal.

Ajapsandali in Georgian. Photo