One of the most famous dishes of Caucasian cuisine is ajapsandali, which is nothing more than stewed vegetables. We will learn how to cook it in a step-by-step recipe with a photo. Video recipe.
Ajapsandali is a fragrant vegetable dish. The set of vegetables here can be very different: eggplants, tomatoes, bell peppers, potatoes, carrots, onions, zucchini, zucchini, any greens and so on. The cooking process is quite simple, vegetables are first fried, and then stewed and seasoned with spices, garlic, fresh herbs. Then the vegetables are stewed together, and at this moment real culinary magic happens. But in the process of cooking this simple dish, there is one caveat - all vegetables must be brought to readiness during pre-frying, because they are stewed for no longer than 10 minutes. The result is a delicate vegetable stew that takes on the distinct flavor of each vegetable and creates a unique culinary masterpiece.
You can serve a vegetable snack both cold and warm. In the Caucasus, put thin lavash in a deep plate, lay out all the ingredients and sprinkle with fresh herbs. Such a spectacular presentation will decorate any table. To add a subtle nutty flavor and unusual piquancy to vegetables, season the dish with utskho-suneli or khmeli-suneli.
See also how to bake sea fish with vegetables.
- Caloric content per 100 g - 189 kcal.
- Servings - 3
- Cooking time - 1 hour 15 minutes
Ingredients:
- Eggplant - 1 pc.
- Spices and herbs - any to taste
- Sweet bell pepper - 2 pcs.
- Hot pepper - 0.5 pods
- Tomatoes - 2-3 pcs.
- Carrots - 1 pc.
- Greens (cilantro, basil) - bunch
- Garlic - 2-3 cloves
- Salt - 1 tsp or to taste
- Onions - 1 pc.
- Ground black pepper - a pinch
- Olive oil - for frying
Step-by-step preparation of ajapsandali in Caucasian style, recipe with photo:
1. Wash the eggplants, dry and cut into cubes about 1 cm in size. If the fruits are ripe, then remove the solanine from them, which gives bitterness. How to do it dry and wet, you will find step by step recipes with photos on the pages of the site.
Peel, wash and cut carrots and onions to the same size.
Peel the bell peppers from the seed box, cut off the partitions, wash and cut.
2. Wash the tomatoes and cut them into small cubes.
Wash and chop the greens.
Peel the garlic and finely chop it.
Peel and chop hot peppers.
3. Heat olive oil or vegetable oil in a skillet and add carrots and onions. Saute the vegetables over medium heat until lightly golden.
4. Add the eggplants to the skillet, stir and continue to fry for another 10 minutes.
5. Send sweet bell peppers to the vegetables, stir and bring the vegetables almost to readiness. They should become soft, but not fall apart, but keep their shape.
6. Then add the tomatoes to the pan, season with salt and black pepper. Send garlic, hot peppers and herbs to the ingredients.
7. Stir the food, cover and simmer over low heat for 10 minutes. Put ready-made ajapsandali in Caucasian style on plates and sprinkle with fresh herbs.
See also a video recipe on how to cook ajapsandali in Georgian.
